Cyber Moon: Dark World
by Razor Knight
Summary: Side-story to Cyber Moon: Chronicles. The Dark World Senshi defeated all youma, but new enemies show up, threatening the already weakened Earth. Can they deal with new enemies, while searching for a way to revive their fallen friends?
1. No happy endings

**Cyber Moon: Dark World.**

**Episode 1: No happy endings.**

_By Razor Knight_

_Last update: May 8, 2009_

* * *

The war had been a long one. A war that had almost erased mankind completely. A war which had costed them the lives of all their friends, and had almost costed them their own. A war they wouldn't have won, if not for the allies they found in another world. Allies that were now gone, but had helped them eliminate the leading force of these creatures, the Youma.

An army of youma had gathered there, waiting for weeks, planning and researching. But when it all came down to it, it became clear to them. They had no way to win against such a force as the one they were facing. There were thousands of youma in that last bastion of the once proud Dark Kingdom, and only two Senshi against them.

However, either of those two Senshi was as strong as ten thousands of the youma. Mankind, what little was left of it, was now free of their rule, and was starting the rebuilt of their world. In only two years, youma had effectively destroyed most technologies humans used, and had brought their own species of animals and plants from the Dark Kingdom, damaging the Earth's ecosystem as well. But it was time for their threat to end for good. It had been decided six months earlier, with the defeat of Queen Beryl, but the two Senshi knew it wouldn't really be over until the last youma fell. Until mankind was once again the only sentient race in the planet.

And now, the two Senshi stood there, defiantly looking at the incoming thousands of creatures, and waiting. Waiting until the crowd was close enough to them, until they released their attacks. They didn't shout out their attacks, as they had in the past, because death was far more frightening when you knew not what shape it would take. It took them slightly over one minute. Half the army of monsters was reduced to ashes, the other half was turned into ice statues. Lifeless ice statues, frozen to nearly absolute zero, left to melt down under the sun.

It was done, the Dark Kingdom was no more. But it was a victory that was, to the two who had fought that day, meaningless. They had lost everything they cared about thanks to this war, and the only thing that kept them fighting on, living on, was the hope to, one day, find a way to get everything they had lost back.

* * *

Mercury looked at the crystal in her hand. Once a white, transluscent crystal, now pitch black and dull, and filled with the energy of an evil spirit. As things were right now, she had found no method to get rid of that darkness. And with that darkness inside, the Ginzuishou's power was no longer a force of good, but merely a destructive weapon.

Rei walked in, looking at her friend with a mix of shock and surprise. "Ami, you didn't stay up all night again, did you?"

"I know I'll find a way to solve this, Rei. I can't lose focus."

"If you die from lack of sleep or food, you'll never get the answer, either."

Mercury looked up at her friend and noticed the way she was looking at her. "Don't worry, I'm not planning on dying until I bring everyone back."

"So you'll die afterwards?" Rei mused.

Ami returned to her 'normal' form. Her civilian form, in any case, since she felt a lot more comfortable in Senshi form nowadays. "Of course not. Any news on that reading I got?"

"There's nothing out there, as far as I can tell, Ami."

"We should keep our guards up, just in case. Such a power spike as the one I read can't just be 'nothing.'"

Rei stared at Ami and shook her head. "I'll keep my guard up for now, you go get some sleep."

"Is that an order?" Ami said with a smile.

"It's simply a friendly request. You know even us have to sleep and eat to survive."

"I'll be okay," Ami said dismissively.

"Ami, you can't keep this up. What do you think Terry would think of you if he saw you like this? What do you think Usagi would think?"

Ami looked away and sighed in defeat. "They would..." she stopped and looked at Rei, her face showing resolve. "You're right. Killing myself won't bring them back."

Rei smiled as she saw her friend walk out of the room. Seconds later, she sensed something in her mind and turned to one of the walls. "Locate the source."

Ami had kept herself busy the last few months. She had thought that, if they were to defend the whole planet from whatever forces were still out there, then they needed a way to detect them. She had worked on creating a computer, using some of the blueprints she had 'borrowed' from Zephyr's labs, and adapted it to work with mana instead of electricity. The computer let them locate magic entities almost anywhere in the world, and Rei had been sensing one such entity being somewhere near them.

"Readings indicate the target is somewhere in the area between Kyoto and Tokyo," the computer said. It was a monotone, female voice, and Rei had asked Ami the reason to choose such a voice, but Ami had always averted answering that question. Rei, however, knew this voice, it was the voice of that computer girl they had met in the alternate Earth.

"Can you identify the target?"

"The target's magic matches that of Mercury and Mars."

Rei was shocked to hear that. "A Senshi?"

"Probability of the entity being a Senshi is eight-five percent."

Good enough, Rei thought. For a moment she considered telling Ami about this, but then she looked at the screen. Whatever that creature was, it was rather weak, so she could handle it.

* * *

Mars had been searching for hours now. Whatever this creature was, it wasn't easy to locate, but she felt its power closer this time. She looked around and nodded. It was real close.

"You... You're one of them?"

She turned around and almost jumped in shock. She knew this girl, well, at least her alternate. The brown fuku made it quite easy to guess who she was. "Sailor Lilith?"

"You're Mars, aren't you?"

Mars nodded at that. "But how did you..."

"Damn you!"

Mars was shocked, before she knew it, the girl had tackled her and was raining punches at her relentlessly. It didn't hurt her, since this girl was just a Twilight Senshi, but still... What made her attack out of the blue like this? "Hey, stop that."

Lilith looked down, realizing her assault had done nothing but confuse her foe, and stood up, crying out in frustration.

"Chie, why did you..."

"You know my name?" Lilith asked between sobs.

"It's hard to explain, but..."

"I don't care," Lilith cut her off and turned around, glaring at her through reddened eyes. "The Senshi, champions of justice, defenders of mankind, that's what you two are being called. It's all bullshit. "

Mars was quite lost. More lost than the few times Ami had gone 'lecture mode' on her about the computer, the crystal or whatever other subject she decided to rant about. "Listen, Lilith, I don't know what happened to you but..."

"What happened? I'll tell you what happened. I was _luckily_ out of the city with my family, when the youma destroyed it. My parents and I kept on hiding for months, hiding from the youma and hoping someone would make the nightmare end. We heard the news about you two destroying their leader, and I felt really happy, I thought the nightmare had finally ended."

Mars saw Lilith fall to her knees and start crying. "Where are your parents?"

"Dead. A youma scouting party found us, two weeks after that bitch Beryl died. Dad died protecting mom and me, and... I froze, I couldn't do a thing. Then one of those youma attacked me, and mom shielded me from the blast. I don't know what happened after that, I can't remember no matter how hard I try, I just know I was there, wearing this suit, and with green and blue blood staining my gloves. "

Mars cringed. To have to go through all that on her own, she could almost understand why she was so violent. "Listen, Chie, I'm sorry about..."

"Sorry?" Lilith almost shouted. "Being sorry won't bring them back! Where were you two when my parents got killed?"

Mars turned back to her civilian form, issuing a gasp from Lilith. "Yeah, it's me. Go ahead, hit me."

"What..."

"Listen, girl. We all lost a lot back then. Do you remember Usagi, Terry, and the others?"

Lilith nodded slowly. "I do... They're all dead now, aren't they?"

"They were Senshi. Usagi was... She was meant to be our leader, but I always got into arguments with her for the dumbest things. I never got to tell her how much her friendship meant to me. I lost my family, too, and Ami..."

"Ami is Mercury, isn't she?" Lilith asked.

"Yes. I can understand what you feel, Chie. And you... You didn't have your powers when your parents died, but us..."

Lilith saw Rei sink to her knees and gasped. Her hatred for these two women was mostly gone, they had suffered as much as she had.

"You don't know how it feels. To see your friend, your leader, killed in front of your eyes. To have this stupid power and not be able to stop that from happening. I agree with you in a way, whatever they're calling us right now, it's all useless."

Lilith turned back to normal. "Rei, I... I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Rei smiled humorlessly. "There's nothing to be sorry about. I understand why you reacted like you did. I'm sorry that things won't be back to the way they used to be."

"The youma are all really gone, aren't they?"

"Yes."

"Then I guess I should thank you for that."

* * *

Ami woke up and immediately sensed something amiss. She rushed to the main room of their base and was greeted by an unexpected guest. "What... Chie?"

"She's Sailor Lilith, remember?" Rei noted. "Apparently, her luck played somehow in her favor in this world, too."

Chie nodded. "Long story short, my parents were killed by youma, I killed those youma and have been hiding ever since."

"Hiding?" Ami said. "You could have helped us."

Chie glared at her. "You're not easy to find, and also... I don't know how to fight, I don't know how to control this power I have. The only reason I'm at Twilight level, as Rei here called it, is because I almost got killed using my luck to escape a youma patrol.

"Oh," Ami said, "sorry, I just..."

Chie looked down. "No need for that. You're like me, a survivor."

Ami shook her head. "You got here on your own. We owe our victory over the youma, in part, to our friends."

"So the rumors are true?"

"About a large group of Senshi being the cause of Beryl's death? Yes. "

"How did that..."

"I doubt you'll believe it, Chie."

Chie looked at the crystal floating in the middle of the room. "That thing... Wasn't it Moon's crystal?"

"Yes, unfortunately, it's been polluted by evil energy, and I know of no way to get rid of it. I suppose only a Moon Senshi would know, but she isn't available."

"It's still hard to believe Usagi was Sailor Moon," Chie noted. "No offense."

"None taken," Rei said. She stopped and looked at the computer, in unison with Ami. "What is it now?"

"Strange energy signature detected near Yokohama."

"Your computer talks?" Chie asked with a smile.

"We'll explain later. We need to check what's out there."

"I'll tag along," Chie said.

"You're weak, you need training before you can be of any use to us," Rei said.

"What better training than a real battle? If it's even an enemy. "

"What else could it be, another Senshi?" Rei mused.

* * *

The three appeared in the exact center of the Yokohama ruins. New Yokohama town was visible several miles to the north, and to the east, there was... A crater that shouldn't have been there.

"What is that?"

"It's not natural, that much I can tell," Mercury said as she scanned the crater. "There are traces of magic in it, and it's recent."

Lilith turned to the side as she heard a scream. "It came from that building." Well, 'building' was a figure of speech, since only three of the walls were still standing, and most of the top five of six floors had been destroyed.

Mercury looked in that direction and nodded. "There's two strong magic signals there. Nothing close to our level."

Mars nodded and walked to the shop, as the other two lagged behind. As they grew close to their goal, they could hear a woman's voice. "This isn't a Talisman. Great."

Mars could see a girl lying on the ground, and a woman looming over her, holding some sort of crystal in her hand. "Doesn't look like a youma."

"She's strong," Mercury said, "but not quite like us."

The woman looked at them and snorted. "More of you? Good, I can get my job done faster this way."

"More of us?" Mars said, looking down at the fallen girl. From afar, it wasn't noticeable, but from this distance, she could see the girl had a suit much like theirs. "Well, what are the damn chances?"

"Higher than we thought, apparently," Mercury mused.

"You kids shouldn't ignore me," the woman snapped. "Die!"

Mars looked at the incoming energy blast dismissively. However, as the beam hit, she flinched and fell to her knees. "What is this?"

Mercury saw a crystal like the one the woman was holding floating out of Mars' back. "That thing is... No, it can't be."

"What's going on?" Lilith asked.

"That freak can take our core out of our bodies. Call it soul, spirit, or however you want, but that's just what that crystal is. "

The woman laughed. "Your friend is down, that's what you get for ignoring me, Kaorinite, one of the Death Busters!"

Mercury was about to say something, but then saw Mars stand up, so fast only she could follow her movement, and clasped her hand around Kaorinite's neck, rising her up in the air. "Rei..."

"I never said I was down," Mars snapped, glaring at the woman with glazed eyes. "Die."

Lilith saw a column of fire rising from underneath Kaorinite, turning her body into ashes in a matter of seconds. Mars' arm, however, wasn't affected at all. "What was that?"

"Fire magic," Mercury said, then realized something. "Oh, I suppose you never saw someone of our level before."

Lilith backed away. "It's just impossible, that much power..."

Mars smiled as she grabbed the small crystal, which went back into her body. "I think Beryl thought exactly the same thing before we destroyed her."

Mercury got the other crystal, and walked to the fallen girl. As it went back into her body, the girl opened her eyes and sat up, looking around in confusion. "Where is that woman?"

"Gone, we took care of her," Mars said.

"Good," the girl said, not phased at all that three other Senshi were there. "I'm... Sailor Earth," she said, "I take it you're Mars and Mercury?"

Mars nodded slowly. "Who are you? Your real name, I mean."

"My real name... What does it matter, the two persons I cared the most about in this world are gone now," the girl said, leaning on a wall. "I guess we're the last ones, right?"

"Unfortunately," Mercury admitted, studying the girl. There was something familiar about her, but she couldn't figure out who she was. "For some reason, I think I know you."

Lilith had been looking at Earth since she woke up. "Maybe it's just me hoping for the impossible, but... Is it you, Karin?"

Earth stared at Lilith in shock. "How do you know my name?"

Lilith returned to her normal form and smiled. "It's good to see you're alive."

Earth nodded, then looked down. "I am, but my brother is gone. I'm sure he died in that explosion, when..."

"He didn't. He died fighting Beryl," Mars said, "he was one of us. "

"He was a Senshi?" Earth fell to her knees. "I should've been there, helping him, but... These stupid powers, what's the use of them?"

"I don't want to give anyone false hopes," Mercury noted, "but I'm searching for a way to bring our friends back."

Earth smiled sadly. "That would be good, but we can't get our lives back, can we?"

"Unfortunately," Mercury admitted, "there's no way to do that. Tokyo is gone, as are all of the world's capitals. But mankind can still make it through this crisis, and I'm going to watch over them. This woman who attacked you might be part of a group, but we can stop them."

"And what if you can never resurrect the others?" Lilith asked, "what's the use of fighting if we can't go back to how things were before?" What was the point, if she wouldn't be able to bring her parents back.

"Because if you give up, then the deaths of those you cared about the most will really be for naught," Mercury said.

Earth stood up and flinched. "I feel quite exhaused right now. Is there a place where we can rest?"

"Sure," Mars said, "and I'll admit, that whole having your soul taken out of your body thing wasn't fun at all. I feel like sleeping for a week."

Mercury looked at her and smiled. "That sounds familiar, doesn't it?"

"Sure does."

* * *

The two women weren't pleased. They had been close to losing their own lives a few years earlier, and had to move their base of operations from their initial stronghold. Most of their warriors were gone, and their search had since been for naught. Without talismans, they had no clue on what to do next. Kaorinite had apparently found someone who could be a carrier, but she hadn't reported again for two days.

"We can't seem to find..."

"... The talismans. Apparently, the Senshi got..."

"... to Kaorinite and killed her." They were both talking to a strange dark cloud, which seemed to change its shape almost constantly. "I may have to take care of things myself, then. But to be able to exist in this world in my true form, I will need energy."

"Then we will..."

"... Gather it ourselves."

"No, send Mimette first. But if she finds whoever eliminated Kaorinite, tell her to avoid combat. We're running low on soldiers, losing another witch would delay the arrival of our god, perhaps for too long."

* * *

"If we find another enemy like that Kaorinite woman, let's try to keep her alive."

Mars looked at Mercury. "What are you planning, Ami?"

"It's quite simple. If we let them escape, then I can trace them to wherever their boss might be."

"Think their boss could be strong?"

Mercury nodded at Earth. "Given you and Lilith are only in Twilight level, I think you should train hard to catch up with us."

"You mean we could be as strong as you?" Lilith asked, slightly surprised.

"You're Senshi too. The alternates who helped us were all at high level, so I don't see why you couldn't come up to our level, given time and effort."

"It's not like we have anything else to do," Earth admitted, "and I do want to become stronger, to stop running and hiding like I was until now."

"Then we'll help," Mars said, "we'll train you both, because we two can't really protect the whole world alone."

Mercury smiled at that. Yes, it had been tiresome to eliminate all the youma, and she could guess there would be stronger enemies out there, if things were any similar in their world to what the alternates had told them. And she would still keep on searching for a way to restore the Ginzuishou, to bring her friends back.

Even if it took her a century to do it, she would not give up. She just couldn't believe there were no happy endings for them.

* * *

**A/N:** This story is a side-story of Cyber Moon Chronicles, expanding on what happened in the Dark Empire arc of said story. Of course, things will be very different in this world than they were in the 'normal' Cyber Moon universe.

* * *

**_Disclaimer:_** Sailor Moon is a creation of Naoko Takeuchi, and I thank her for creating such wonderful universe.


	2. A long road out of hell

**Cyber Moon: Dark World**

**Episode 2: A long road out of hell.**

_By Razor Knight_

_Last update: June 16, 2009_

* * *

Their enemies were definitely the difficult kind. They just appeared at a random area, draining the energy of any civilians they found, but vanishing before she or her allies could reach the area under attack.

It had been two months since the attacks started, and they had used their time wisely. Rei was training the two weaker Senshi, and had managed to get them to Cosmic level. Still far from the power the two of them had, but it was a start. As for Ami herself, she had been searching her computer's database, for clues on how to restore the Ginzuishou.

She looked at the crystal... A crystal they had worked so hard to recover, but it was useless to them as it was. It could only be used to destroy, and the world had seen enough destruction already. There were no historical records of the Ginzuishou ever being polluted by evil, It was apparently the first time one of the Ginzuishou had been corrupted. The first time in countless thousands of years. It just went along with the rest of their rotten luck.

Rei walked in, and she looked up from staring at the black crystal. "Any luck out there?"

"You could say so. That monster killed half a dozen civilians before I got there, but this time around, I could see her."

"Her?"

Rei nodded. "A blond woman, her power was as pathetic as that Kaorinite freak, but... She escaped. And again, our trackers won't work."

"They know we're trying to track them down," Ami said, "it's a pity they don't realize we have the 'Talismans' they're looking for."

It had been rather easy for her to figure things out. The Talismans, the key to the powers beyond Cosmic, were bound to their souls. Kaorinite had mentioned Talismans, so she made the connection and knew the enemy was looking for them.

But the Talismans wouldn't show up like that, just taking the soul out of a Senshi's body wouldn't be enough. The enemy apparently didn't know this, but the question was, why had they stopped searching for them?"

"Ami?"

"Sorry, I was just doing some thinking. I still have no idea why they changed their strategy."

"Maybe their leader was watching, and knew how strong you are. Given that we're the only Senshi left, they might have figured getting a Talisman was an impossible feat."

Ami nodded at Chie. "That's a good guess, I suppose. In any case, this means just like the Dark Kingdom, they need energy for their goals to be complete."

"Just a crazy idea here," Karin interrupted, "but maybe we should just wait?"

"People's dying out there," Rei said.

"I know that, and I'm not saying we shouldn't try to stop them from killing people. I'm saying we should just wait and see what happens when they get enough energy."

"Waiting for whatever they want to unleash to be unleashed, then destroying it?" Ami pondered. "That _could_ work, or it could just destroy our world."

"Eeeeh... Then forget I said anything."

"Are you still searching for them?"

"Of course," Ami said, "but I can't get any clues on where they might be, and I'm using every available satellite to try and locate them."

The satellites orbiting the Earth weren't affected by the youma invasion, and that was a good thing, since Ami could hack into any (and all) of them at any time, giving her control over what was happening everywhere in the world.

But satellites couldn't detect magic, nor could they see through magic shielding, so when dealing with enemies like the ones they were facing right now, having a million eyes was worthless.

* * *

"Have you gathered enough energy yet?"

"We have almost reached..."

"... Our goal. We will soon have enough..."

"... Energy to fully bring you to this universe."

"Good, once that's done, I'll be able to bring our master here as well. And then, this world will be ours."

"We can hardly wait..."

"... For that day."

* * *

"The enemy's in China," Ami said.

"They're attacking there?"

"No, I mean I finally located their hideout. But it's not actually good news."

"What do you mean?"

"I was only able to detect them because they're throwing out an incredible amount of energy. If I'm guessing right, this means they're finally going to bring their boss here."

Rei changed to her Senshi form in a blink. "Then we should go greet him, her or it."

Mercury nodded. "Exactly what I was thinking. Earth, Lilith, you're coming along too."

"Of course, I wouldn't miss this one," Karin said with a smile.

* * *

The twins bowed, then stepped aside as the woman walked past them. "Lady..."

"This world, its stench of life is almost unbearable. Fortunately, you chose a good area for our base, there's enough humans near us for me to use." Her hands filled with light and she smiled. "Soon our master will purify this world, and the Silence will..." she stopped and looked up. "I can sense enemies approaching. Those so-called Senshi are drawing near."

"Then we shall..."

"... Stop them."

"Have Mimette and Villuy go, too. I don't want anything to interfere with the summoning."

* * *

As soon as they appeared, Mercury could see something was wrong. Very wrong. "No, this can't be..."

"What's the problem?" Earth asked.

"I don't know how they're doing this, but I can't sense any life forms other than the few inside that cave, in several dozen miles around us."

"There are three villages in that area, right?" Mars noted. "That means they killed everyone in them?"

Mercury nodded. "I think we have to go and destroy them before anyone else falls."

"Hey, look, a group of super cheerleaders."

Earth turned to see four women had just appeared. The four wore suits of different colors, but they all looked like bad copies of their Sailor suits. "Hmph, I didn't know we had groupies."

"You shall not..."

"... Survive this battle, Senshi."

Mercury looked at the two, then at Mars. "Their power is low, but their weapons can reflect anything we throw at them. It would require a fast barrage of attacks to overload them."

"I say we do this the hard way, then," Mars said. "Earth, Lilith, take care of the other two."

"Gotcha," Earth said with a smile. It was good to finally be able to test her new powers in battle.

Mars turned to the two women. They looked like twins, but she could see they shared the same aura. One soul in two bodies, perhaps? "Hmph. Let's see how long this takes."

Mercury nodded, and both rushed to the twins. Their targets, however, vanished and reappeared behind them, shooting energy blasts at point blank. It did nothing but piss the two Senshi off, however, and they moved faster than the twins expected, both turning and punching out at almost the same time.

"This is simply..."

"... Impossible."

Mars pulled her hand out of the woman's chest and turned around. "If that's the best this enemy has for us..."

"Our master will..."

"... Destroy you all."

Mercury looked at the two other Senshi as the twins turned into dust. Earth was standing over a rather bloody Mimette, and Lilith was kicking Villuy around like a rag doll. "These are weak, but I can guess their leader will be stronger."

Earth and Lilith walked to them and smiled. "This was easier than our training," Earth commented.

Mars was about to say something, but a black beam shot from the ground near them, creating a 'hole' in the sky, which quickly grew in size. "What is that..."

"A transdimensional portal," Mercury said, "something's coming through."

The figure that appeared from inside the portal was a rather unsetting sight. It was a giant, humanoid creature, but its body was apparently made entirely of darkness. As the figure stepped through, the portal vanished, and a woman appeared floating near it. "Master, it is time for you to purify this planet."

"Purify?" Earth muttered.

"Most likely means destroying everything," Mars said.

What happened next, however, they weren't quite ready for. The giant creature turned into mist and was absorbed by the woman, who then started laughing. "I will bring the Silence to this impure world!"

"Mars Inferno Demon!"

"Mercury Endless Winter!"

The two attacks hit their mark, but the woman just stood there, unphased by them. "Pitiful humans, you are powerless against me!"

Mercury was lost for words. This woman... She was stronger than them? But how was that possible, this was their ultimate power, their strongest attacks, and still, she had just shrugged them off?

"Begone!" the woman snarled, sending a wave of darkness all around her, which knocked the Senshi away. She then smiled as her hands were covered by dark energy. She then started chanting some words in an unknown language, and the ground around her went pitch black. "The Silence shall soon take over this planet."

Mercury regained consciousness and immediately looked around. The ground and vegetation around them was slowly going black, as if darkness was taking over the area. From what she could see, it was expanding, and fast. If they couldn't stop that woman fast, then the world would be...

She realized something. Those alternate Senshi who had helped them defeat Beryl, they had most likely dealt with this one enemy, and won. So why couldn't they defeat it? They were far stronger, still...

"They had the crystal," Mars said. She had a knack for knowing what Mercury was thinking, it was almost unsetting, really. "Mercury, is the crystal really useless?"

"It's just a weapon of destruction, Rei. It's dangerous."

Lilith and Earth stood up, slowly, both looking like they were barely able to stand, let alone fight. "You know," Earth noted, "if that crystal's only good for destroying things, then it's just what we need right now."

Lilith frowned. "But there's no Sailor Moon, so it can't be..."

"It can be used, but it's risky," Mercury explained.

Mars saw Mercury reach her hand out, and the crystal appeared, floating in front of her. "Ami, wait, you can't..."

"I would really love to finally find a way to bring our friends back... But if we let this woman destroy the world, then our friends will be gone for good."

"Ami, don't..."

"Rei, there's no other way," Mercury said, then took the crystal in her hands and looked at the evil woman, who hadn't moved since her 'purification' begun. "You say we're powerless, but I'll show you what our real power can be. Mercury Lunar Hailstorm!"

The others just looked on as a rain of ice, snow, water and light fell around them, none of it touching them. As the attack ended, they could see the woman had been turned into an ice statue, her eyes locked in a stare of shock and disbelief. Mercury calmly walked to the woman and, before anyone could say a thing, punched through her, causing the statue to explode in a rain of ice shards.

"Ami, are you okay?"

Mercury fell to one knee, but smiled. "Yes, it's just... The Ginzuishou needs a lot more power to work than I estimated."

"It's all over, huh?" Lilith asked.

"This attack is," Mars agreed, "but there may be other enemies out there."

Mercury nodded at that, then looked at the crystal. For a second, she thought the crystal looked slightly less black than it usually was, but she dismissed it as her mind still feeling the effects of using it.

"Ami, you don't look so good."

"It's okay, Rei, I'm just..."

Mars run to Mercury's side as she fell on her face. "Ami!" She checked on her friend and sighed in relief. "Damn it, you scared me. "

Earth looked at Mercury's prone form. "Will she be okay?"

"Yes, but as she said, that crystal needs a lot of power to work."

* * *

One week had passed since the battle, and Mercury couldn't help but wonder. Was Sailor Moon really needed in this, their reality? What about the others? Weren't they being selfish, wanting to bring their friends back to a world that was almost doomed to fall? Even Usagi wouldn't shrug this off, no, she was sure Usagi would be quite shocked if she saw how things had changed.

Maybe it was better just to work with what they had now. Rei and her were at their highest level, and the other two would eventually catch up. So it was okay, wasn't it? There was no need to bring their friends back to this nightmare.

It was well past midnight, but she couldn't fall asleep. She decided to go for a walk, to clear her mind. The base they were using now had once been the headquarters of the JDF, and it was surrounded by nature. It was almost amazing, to see the speed at which nature had claimed what had once been the city of Tokyo.

Ami opened the door, and noticed something was very wrong as soon as she stepped outside. Temperature was dropping, even though they were in mid-summer, and she could see a thin layer of ice in the distance. The ice was getting close to their base at an alarming rate, so she knew it was not a natural event.

* * *

She kept on running, but wasn't sure why. Only thing she could see was a dim light in the distance, which she could never reach, no matter how long she run. Everything else was darkness, an unsetting darkness wich had no visible limits. There was something there, in that light, something she knew she had to see.

It seemed like hours to her, but finally the point of light grew into a small circle, she was getting close to it. Before she knew it, the light was all around her, and she couldn't see any of the darkness that had surrounded her before.

And there was a very familiar feeling to this light, too. Something she knew she had felt before. Something she had never thought she'd feel again. As several forms appeared, she stood there, too shocked to speak, too shocked to move.

"Rei, we've been waiting for you."

"Usa... Usagi?" Rei couldn't stop herself, and she run to hug her friend. However, she was shocked when she realized she couldn't touch her, this wasn't Usagi, only a image of her. Her soul, if what she was feeling was right.

"Don't be afraid, Rei. We're with you all the time."

"How can I bring you back?"

"Bringing us back requires a sacrifice, one I don't want you to make, " Usagi said. She sounded so kind, so calm, Rei had missed this. However, she had already realized what was going on. This wasn't real, she was dreaming this.

"A sacrifice... We're ready to make any sacrifice if it means seeing you again, Usagi."

Mako walked up to Rei. "You should just forget about us. What you will have to do in order to revive us, it's just..."

"You two lost enough already," Minako said, "if you go any further, you could lose it all."

Lose it all? What was up with them? No, these couldn't be her friends, she couldn't believe they were asking her to just forget about them. "I don't believe this."

"Rei, please..."

Rei looked at Usagi and shook her head. "I'm not going to turn back after coming this far, Princess. The Earth needs you... We need you. All of you."

Usagi looked away and then nodded. "I can't agree to that, but... I understand."

Rei blinked a few times. No, her eyes weren't tricking her. The figures had all vanished, all but that of Usagi. "What is going on?"

"I can't change your mind, so I'll help you. The Ginzuishou is the key to all this, Rei. Use that knowledge as well as you can."

"Use that knowledge? But we already knew that, Usagi..." She noticed her friend was slowly fading and paled. "Wait!"

"I'm sorry, Rei, but it's time for me to go."

* * *

"Wait!"

Ami was quite shocked. When she entered the room, she had noticed Rei tossing and turning, and had tried to wake her up. Rei's sudden outburst was a confirmation, she was having some sort of nightmare. "Rei, are you okay?"

Rei groaned and put a hand on her forehead. "Not really... I had a strange dream."

"That will have to wait for now. There's an unnatural ice layer growing everywhere in the world. At this rate, the whole planet will be covered in a few hours."

Rei stood up and walked out of the room. "What about breaking that ice?"

"I managed to keep the ice away from this place," Ami noted, "but I don't know how long I'll be able to do it. I have the satellites working non-stop, looking for wherever the enemy might be."

Chie and Karin saw the two enter the main room of their base and nodded at Rei. "Things look dire," Chie explained, "but the computer found the sources of the ice. There are thousands of seed-like pods everywhere in the world, and they are creating the ice."

Ami looked at the computer, using her skill to probe the 'seeds.' "I see... Those pods work by flooding the area around them with ice mana. I could easily disrupt that and destroy the pods, but to get to all of them..."

Rei sensed something and looked up to the sky. "Satellites won't find the true enemy, because they're not looking in the right direction."

Ami nodded at that, giving the computer some more commands. The screen changed to a view of the space outside the Earth, and a small, bluish object could be seen speeding towards their world. "That is..."

"Let me guess, an ice asteroid?"

"No, a spaceship of some sort."

"How do we get up there?" Chie asked.

"You can't," Ami said.

"Hey, we want to help too, so don't..."

"Don't be a fool," Ami snapped. "We can get there, we could drag you along, but if the readings I'm getting are true, then you two would be frozen dead in less than one minute."

"Damn it, that's not fair," Chie complained, but knew Ami was right about this. "Okay then, I suppose we can only wish you luck."

Mercury and Mars had already transformed, and Mars smiled at the other two. "We'll be back soon."

* * *

As soon as two reached their destination, Mars realized just how right Mercury was. Even with her Holy powers, she felt extremely cold. Mercury, on the other hand, didn't seem bothered by the temperature at all. "Where is their boss?"

Mercury had her visor down and was looking around. "I'm detecting a strong entity nearby. Actually, from my readings, it's coming this way."

Mars smiled. "Good, the sooner we kill it, the sooner we'll return home." She closed her eyes for a second, and a thin aura of fire surrounded her body. "I'm already sick of this cold."

Mercury gave her an understanding nod. In her case, however, this cold wasn't enough to bother her. In fact, all it did was upgrade her powers. "Here it comes."

'It' was a tall, slender woman, wearing a regal attire, complete with a crown. The only strange thing about her was that she was made entirely of ice, as was her clothing. "You are not allowed here."

"You're not allowed into our world, either," Mars snapped. "Die."

A column of flames rose from under the ice woman's feet, but she was seemingly unaffected. "Foolish creatures. While inside this ship, I am invincible."

Mercury had been busy scanning the woman. "Her skin is impervious to magic."

"Then I have a plan," Mars said and rushed at the ice woman.

The woman didn't try to dodge, waiting until Mars was a mere meter away before making her move. "Begone."

Mercury's face lost color as her friend fell, a rather large ice spike embedded in her chest. "Rei!"

"That's what she gets for defying the Ice Queen Kaguya."

She couldn't believe it, Mars was going to die, just like Moon, and there was no way for her to... No, maybe there was a way. But first, she had to take care of the main threat. "Die!"

Kaguya laughed. "Your friend tried the same," she snapped at the approaching girl, before sending out another ice spike. She gasped, however, as Mercury deflected the spike with a punch. Mercury's other hand clasped around the Queen's neck, and Kaguya could see the girl was smiling. A cold, emotionless smile.

"Fight fire with fire, or in this case, fight ice with ice. Mercury Freezing Pulse!" Mercury could feel it, her enemy's very blood freezing in a matter of seconds, and any liquid in the woman's body was frozen solid as well. She dropped the Queen, who fell to the ground and shattered into countless ice shards, and turned to Mars. "Rei, hang in there!"

Mars flinched. "I'm an idiot, huh? Underestimating that ice woman like... That."

Mercury's eyes watered. Mars was losing blood, and fast, and she could see her vital signs were weak already. She had to do something, but what? "The crystal!"

Mars heard that and shook her head slowly. "Ami, don't do it. That crystal's polluted, if you try to use it again, then..."

"If I don't do a thing, then you'll die," Mercury noted. "Weren't you the one telling me not to go and die without bringing our friends back?"

"Even if I'm not here, you can still do it."

"That's a lie, and you know it," Mercury scolded as she summoned the crystal. As she looked at the crystal, she knew she hadn't imagined it: The crystal was not as dark as it had been, even if the change was too little to be noticeable unless you focused in it. "I don't know if this crystal can do it, but I'll take the risk."

Mars saw the crystal light up, and the dim, almost black light it gave shone over her body. It took her mind a few seconds to register the feeling, but she could feel the wound closing. "It's working."

Mercury opened her eyes, noticing the wound was about to close, and smiled at her friend. "If I let you die, then what am I going to tell Usagi?"

The ship started shaking violently, and Mars realized something. "Without that woman around, this place's going to break apart."

Mercury looked around. "You're right." She then turned to Mars and sighed. "Think you can teleport us both back to Earth?"

"I'm sure I can, but why are you asking that now?"

"Because..." Mercury said, then fell on her side.

Mars grimaced. No, Mercury was still alive, but this time the energy used up by that crystal was more than before. She saw the crystal floating there and gasped. She could see, now, that its blackened surface was lighter than before. Still black, but not the same shade as she remembered. "Use that knowledge..." Rei said, repeating the words Usagi had said in her dream. She put the crystal away, and picked Mercury up from the ground, idly noticing a group of ice women coming towards them from all directions before she vanished.

* * *

Earth and Lilith were standing right besides the base's main entrance. A minute earlier, the ice had been creeping towards them, relentlessly, but now it was vanishing. They could guess that meant the others had won.

Lilith turned as she heard a sound, and saw Mars appearing, with Mercury's prone form in her arms. "What happened to her?"

"She used the crystal again. I'm to blame for that."

"What exactly happened?" Earth asked.

"Their 'boss' showed up, an ice queen, as she called herself. Our magic didn't work on her, so I tried going melee against her."

Mercury woke up as Mars said that. "You're too much of a hothead sometimes."

Mars put Mercury down and smiled at her. "Yeah. So Mercury here did something to that woman and killed her, then she healed me."

"I hadn't used that attack, but I knew it was there."

"What was that anyhow?" Mars asked. "I was too weak to really see what you did."

"I'm not quite the melee fighter, but that one attack only works when I can touch my foes. It instantly freezes any liquid inside any living being's body to something close to absolute zero degrees."

"Fuck, that's a nasty way to die," Lilith admitted.

"In any case, I realized an interesting fact about the crystal," Mercury said.

"I think I know what you mean," Mars admitted.

"Is it a good thing?" Earth asked.

"It may be," Mercury said, "it should be a good sign. Let's go inside, I'll show you what I found."

* * *

"My Queen, we've found a planet full of creatures you can feed on."

The woman looked at her soldier and chuckled. "Good, go and prepare this new world for me."

"At once, Dream Queen Vadianne."

* * *

**A/N:** Took me a bit longer than I planned to write this one, but I hope the results are good enough. What's next? Besides Vadianne, there's the Dead Moon, Galaxia, and then... No, I'm not ruining the surprise.


	3. Bittersweet dreams

**Cyber Moon: Dark World**

**Episode 3: Bittersweet dreams.**

_By Razor Knight_

_Last update: June 23, 2009_

* * *

Rei recalled the crystal, looking at the two weaker Senshi as it floated to its place in the center of the room. "Maybe you two will be able to see what's different, too."

Karin stared at the crystal for a few seconds before she knew what Rei meant. "It's not as black as it was at first."

Ami nodded at that. "As you know, the evil inside it is almost as strong as the power of the original Ginzuishou. Key word here is 'almost.' What I'm guessing is, the more someone uses its power for good, the weaker that evil energy will be."

"Then all we need to do to restore it is to go shooting around?"

"No, as I said, it should only be used for good," Ami repeated. "And it's not like we can go 'shooting around,' that thing needs to use our own energy to work."

Rei looked at the crystal, then frowned. "Use that knowledge, she said."

"Rei?"

"Remember that strange dream I told you about? It was about Usagi and the others. They were warning me about not using this crystal, telling me we should have to sacrifice something to bring them back, and they didn't want that to happen."

Ami bit her lip as she thought about that. "I've been giving it some thinking, Rei. I don't know about sacrifices, but is it really _fair_ for us to want to bring them here, to this wasteland of a planet? Isn't it better if we just remember all the fun we had back then?"

"Don't say that," Rei snapped, "you have no right to say that after you went as far as bringing those other Senshi here. You can't say that after you didn't let me die in that damn ice spaceship!"

"That was just because..."

"This whole universe isn't fair to us, Ami. Don't tell me you are okay with never seeing Usagi again. Don't lie to me."

Chie shook her head "Rei, chill!"

Rei ignored her as she walked to Ami. "You've risked your life twice for this 'wasteland,' Ami. You wouldn't have done it if you really thought it was all hopeless."

Ami looked at the crystal for a few seconds, then laughed softly. "You know me a little too well, Rei."

"Didn't they tell you what kind of sacrifice we would have to make?" Chie asked.

"No, they were gone before I could ask them more. Before I woke up, Usagi told me that the crystal was the key to bring them back, and to 'use that knowledge as well as we can.'" I didn't understand what she meant, but now I do understand."

"Maybe it was all just your imagination?" Karin pondered.

"I could feel their souls, somehow," Rei noted, "I don't know if it was real or not, but... I want to believe they're still with us."

Chie smiled. "I think it's a good thing, what's happening to the crystal. The more we use it, the closer it will be to its 'pure' form. And I don't know about you, girls, but I'm thinking the universe just loves to send wave after wave of enemies at us."

"I can only agree on that," Ami admitted, "but let's not underestimate our enemies ever again."

"I've learnt that lesson the hard way," Rei said with a frown.

* * *

"What a beautiful world... Full of sentient beings, those are the ones who give the best energy to me."

"Preparations are ready, Queen Vadianne."

"Good. You may start now. I want this world drained as soon as possible."

* * *

Ami woke up and looked around. This was her bedroom, but how... She looked at the clock. Still too early to go to school, but she didn't want to go back to sleep now, to go back to the nightmare she was having minutes ago. It was strange, she couldn't remember what the nightmare had been about, but she dismissed it as something she shouldn't be worrying about.

Walking out of her room, she was surprised to see her mother was there. "Mom, I thought you had to work this morning?"

"I couldn't be working in such a day as today, Ami," Saeko said as she handed her a wrapped gift. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks," Ami beamed as she opened the gift. This day had really started better than she could've dreamt of.

* * *

School was the same as usual for Ami. Of course, some people could resent her for being smart, but she didn't really mind. After all, she knew her friends liked her the way she was. She was heading home, when she realized someone was following her. Turning around, she saw Terry smiling at her, and stopped walking. "Terry?"

"Rei told me to bring you to the shrine."

"They are most likely throwing a surprise party for me," Ami said matter-of-factly.

"My lips are sealed," Terry said.

"I could make you talk, mister."

"I know, but you wouldn't want to keep the girls waiting, right?"

"Guess not," Ami said.

* * *

Ami couldn't think of things being any better than this. Her friends really knew how to throw a party, she could admit that much. But for some reason, the 'perfection' of this day was bothering her. Something in the back of her mind told her this wasn't how things went for them. This wasn't reality. Reality was the 'nightmare' she had 'awakened' from.

It couldn't be, how could such a grim reality be real? Why was a part of her insisting that she didn't belong here, with her friends, that she didn't deserve this happiness? This was all too real to be a dream.

Rei suddenly looked up, and Ami knew this most likely meant something was happening. "Rei?"

"Guys, there's something evil out there. I can feel it."

"Ami, stay here. It's your birthday, after all, so let us take care of..."

Ami stood up. "No, you may need my help."

The 'feeling' in the back of her mind was back, telling her to wake up, to let go of this fantasy. Fantasy? No, this was how things were meant to be, she was supposed to live a happy life surrounded by her friends and family. That other 'reality' was a lie. The Dark Kingdom had been defeated, and they had...

As she tried to remember the past, she flinched. No, she couldn't remember how they had defeated the Dark Kingdom, no matter how hard she tried. Maybe because, she realized, they had never defeated it.

"Ami, what's wrong?" Terry asked, looking at Ami worriedly.

Ami looked at Terry, tears rolling down her cheeks as she realized he wasn't real, it was all just a dream. "Everything's wrong," she finally said, "but staying here won't solve a thing."

* * *

Vadianne could feel it, energy filling her body, rejuvenating her, giving her the power she needed so much. And as her power grew, she could drain those useless Earth creatures faster.

She knew it would eventually kill them, but she wasn't worried about that, she would just have to move to another planet and start over again. The centuries of journey between one creature-filled planet and the next were, to her, a small price to pay in exchange for her eternal beauty, her eternal life. However, the lives of those creatures she killed were meaningless to her. Beings who accepted a normal lifespan and were happy about it were repulsive to her, they were abominations which only served as fuel for her own eternal being.

"Bad news, one of the natives escaped our grasp."

"What?" Vadianne almost shouted. "It must be one of those annoying Senshi. Send the Nightmares there, and make sure that Senshi doesn't survive."

* * *

Ami woke up. Yes, of course, she was at the base, and she could sense the computer in the main room. This was reality, no matter how much she wanted to deny it, this was her world, not the other one. But why had she dreamt of something like that? It was the first time that happened.

It hurt, it really hurt, to have been fooled by that dream so badly. It hurt her, to see her friends alive again, only to realize it was all a lie, and that everything was still wrong in her reality. And it had hurt a lot more than the time she had gone to that alternate universe, because in this dream, there wasn't another Ami already there. Whoever did this, was going to...

She shook her head at that. No, she had to calm down and think. Something she had missed at first was now brought to her attention: The computer was detecting something. She walked out of her room, transforming into her Senshi form and summoning her visor as she did. The first thing she noticed, was that everyone was sleeping soundly. However, there were traces of a strange, unknown energy in them.

Her powers were a great help in this case, since she could operate the computer without having to get close to it. What it was telling her, though, wasn't good at all. Even in the side of Earth which was at daylight, there was no activity at all. Also, the date the computer had... If that was right, then she had slept for three days.

Walking into Rei's room, she could see her friend had a faint green aura around her. Whoever was doing this, was strong enough to even control them. But what kind of energy was this, and why had Ami been released off its power? The final moments of her own dream returned to her mind, and she realized what the answer was. Apparently, the one behind this attack wanted them to stay in their dreams, and that scenario had almost fooled her.

She tried to shake Rei awake, but that was useless. Loud noises didn't work, either, and she even tried (even though she hated herself for thinking about that) to awaken Rei by punching her in the stomach. It was all pointless, and Rei didn't give any signs of taking notice of what Ami was doing.

A thought crawled into Ami's mind. Maybe using the crystal to break the control would work! She was about to summon the Ginzuishou, when she detected the computer's signals. Several entities had appeared right outside the base, which meant whoever had put the whole planet to sleep knew she wasn't in dreamland anymore.

She was alone against this new foe, but she wasn't about to give up. She had won against worst odds, _much_ worst odds, if the readings she was getting were true. This enemy didn't know what it was messing with, and she would show it just that.

_"Let's not underestimate our enemies ever again."_

She stopped and, for a second, wanted to kick herself. Yes, she remembered that, she had said it, and she had been about to do what she promised to never do again. No, the enemies outside could be weaker (_way_ weaker) than her, but that didn't mean their boss was that weak. She had to be careful, the destiny of all mankind was resting on her shoulders this time around.

And for some reason, for the first time since the day she saw everyone around her die, she actually _cared_ about mankind's survival.

* * *

As she walked outside, Ami couldn't help but wonder just how this enemy could be so twisted. There they were, clones of her friends, even Mars. All of the Senshi were there, even those she had only seen briefly. But she could see something else, these clones had no soul, they were just puppets. She could also see their power levels. Close to Eternal, which meant they did have a chance to defeat her if she wasn't careful.

"You've failed us all," the Sailor Moon clone said.

Ami turned to her Senshi form and smiled humorlessly. "That's what I keep telling myself day after day, so you'll have to do better than that to hurt me." She felt her anger boiling as she looked at the Dragon Mercury clone. "Or better yet, do nothing at all!" Mercury reached out her hands, and countless, thin threads of water shot out, piercing through all the clones before solidifying, and Mercury didn't even flinch as she swiftly moved her arms to each side, effectively tearing her foes to shreds. The clones turned into a black mist before vanishing, and she looked around, searching for more enemies.

Nothing, the satellites told her nothing about this enemy's location. She looked up and realized something. "No, the enemy's not here." She gave some commands to the computer, which in turn turned the satellites to scan the space. Yes, she could see it in her visor, a... A floating castle? "They keep on getting weirder, huh?" She mused to herself before vanishing.

* * *

Vadianne was rather surprised to see the human female appear in her castle. "I suppose you're one of those 'Senshi.' I hope you're aware that your power could never compare to mine."

Mercury was looking at the data her visor, and wondering what this woman was talking about. She either couldn't sense Mercury's power, or was hiding a part of her own. A _large_ part of it.

"I see, not going to talk? Since I'm a good host, I'll let you attack first."

Big mistake, Mercury thought as she summoned her attack. In their current form, both her and Mars could give their attacks any shape they wanted, and they needed not shout out their attacks names like when they were in lower levels. So, she once more went for the silent choice, summoning a giant ice spear which she shot at her foe.

Vadianne, however, didn't move. The attack was blocked by something unseen, and she laughed out loud. "Pitiful mortal, you should have known you were no match for Dream Queen Vadianne."

"Hmph. First a destruction bitch Queen, then an ice bitch Queen, now a dream bitch Queen. I'm getting tired of this pattern," Mercury commented idly. In reality, she was trying to scan the woman, to know just how she was stopping her attacks.

Three figures appeared right then. Mercury saw they looked like children, but there was a certain hint of malice in their eyes. The three stood around Vadianne and bowed to her. "My Queen, be careful with this one. Her power is rather strong," one of the three said.

"Then I might have to ask for your help," Vadianne admitted.

The three soldiers turned into light orbs and floated around Vadianne for a few seconds, before fusing with her. As they did, her royal gown was covered by armor plating.

"Oh, I see your power went up," Mercury said dismissively.

"Sure it did. And since you attacked me, I'll have to return the favor." The Queen shot a black beam at Mercury, but gasped as she saw Mercury vanish. "Where..."

"Don't expect me to stand still and take the hit, idiot," Mercury said from behind Vadianne before punching her in the face. She let out a surprised yelp and staggered back, however, as the hit did nothing to the Queen. What was worse, her hand felt like a few bones were out of place now. "What is..."

"As I said, you can't win against me," Vadianne snapped before kicking Mercury away. "Now be a good little human and die."

Mercury stood up, looking around the room. There had to be something... She looked up, noticing a black orb for the first time since she had arrived. It was hard to spot against the black background of space, but she could see it now, a circle of emptiness against the starry background. "What is..." She scanned it with her visor, and a smile formed in her face. "I almost bought that lie, Dream Queen."

Vadianne didn't really know what the girl was planning when she vanished, but then she heard a strange noise, and looked back in shock. "No! What have you done!"

"I've defeated you, apparently," Mercury mused, noticing two things her surprise attack had caused. A stream of darkness was shooting from the orb to the Earth, something she couldn't be sure was a good sign. However, as soon as the orb was hit, Vadianne's body started changing, aging decades in only a few seconds. "Oh, I get it. You're not really immortal, you're just a pitiful lich, sucking up life energy from others to stay alive."

Vadianne snarled at her, then charged forwards. "I'm going to..."

Mercury stopped her charge easily, stabbing through the woman's throat with a thin icy blade. "Just die already, parasite."

The Dream Queen managed to give one last, pitiful howl before the black orb was completely depleted, then she dissolved. The three 'children' appeared in front of Mercury, but then vanished along with the remains of their Queen. Mercury idly noticed the castle falling apart around her before teleporting back to the Earth.

* * *

Rei walked into the main room with a grimace. "Damn it, I can't believe I was dreaming something like that..."

Ami smiled. "A dream of what life could have been if things had worked as they should?"

"How do you know?"

Ami sighed, and then gave her friend a detailed resume of what had happened. She could tell Rei was quite surprised to hear some dream parasite had taken over them all like that. "You know, I'm almost afraid to imagine what will come after us next," Ami said after finishing her tale.

"Me too," Rei admitted, "even with all this power, we can't defeat our enemies easily."

"It would be rather boring if all enemies out there were weak as youma," Ami noted.

Chie and Karin walked in right then, both looking like they had similar dreams themselves. "Feels like I slept for half a week."

"That's because it's just what happened to us all," Ami said.

* * *

A week passed without incidents, and Chie was glad to have a bit of a break. She was still training, though, because she was aware of her position. She was the weakest Senshi, hands down, even though her power could let her and the others get an edge in combat, but she wanted to hone her other skills. Even Karin was a much better brawler than her, and Karin _didn't need_ brawling, since she could just drop a boulder or ten at her foes from afar.

"Chie, are you still up?"

Ami was there too. Another reason why she wanted to train harder, was that Ami and Rei had as much physical and magical power as her Senshi form, in their 'normal' forms. She wanted to at least get to the level before that, Eternal, so she could be useful to the others in battle.

"Yeah, I was about to call it a day, anyhow."

"You shouldn't overdo it, Chie."

Chie frowned. "You can say that, you got..." She stopped herself from saying what she was thinking, and looked away. "Sorry, I know it wasn't..."

"I would be happy to be at your level right now, if it meant our friends would all be still alive," Ami admitted, "but I can understand your frustration, and I wish there was an easy way to get you two up to our level. Karin may not say it, but I know she's also upset."

"Yes, I noticed that too," Chie said. "I'm going to bed now."

"Right," Ami said, "and let's hope another Vadianne doesn't come to visit."

"Hell no. One nightmarish perfect dream was more than enough for me. "

Nightmarish, Ami thought, was a very fitting way to describe the dream she had that one time. Not so much for the dream itself, but for how she had felt once she had awakened.

* * *

"Wow, that's a new one."

Chie looked around. Last thing she could remember, was trying to catch some sleep. So this was most likely just a dream, but it wasn't what she was used to. Everything around her was white, a blindin white, and she couldn't see a limit to this white area.

"Chie, you have to help me."

The girl, for a moment, was torn between kicking herself awake, wondering if she had finally cracked from the pressure, or being curious as to what a white, winged horse was doing inside her mind. Even better, a white, winged, horny horse.

She almost regretted her wrong choice for words. A white, winged, _horned_ horse was there, staring at her as if he expected her to have any. "What... What are you?"

"I am a fugitive, but I'm on the side of light, just like you. There's a powerful group after me, and it's followed me to this world. Help me, and I'll give you the means to fight them."

"Why me? Why not Ami, she's smart... Or Rei, she's a lot better at fighting than me."

"But you have the purest mind of your group," the horse said.

"Right. I'm still not sure this isn't just a weird dream."

"Unfortunately, I can't give you any proof of that until you wake up. "

"Sounds good," Chie muttered.

* * *

Chie sat up and looked around. "Whew, back to reality. I don't know where that dream came from, but I'm glad it's over. A winged unicorn, of all things to dream about."

_"My name is Helios, and I'm a Pegasus, actually."_

Chie looked around in shock. No, she wasn't imagining things, that voice was inside her mind. She could feel it now, that presence, 'Helios,' in her. "Uhm... Just don't go messing with my mind, okay?"

_"I won't, but my enemies will surely search for me."_

Chie didn't know what he meant, but his tone made it clear it wouldn't be a good thing. "Gotcha. Ami won't believe it when I tell her about this."

_"I suppose our situation would be hard to believe. Sadly, I can't risk going out in the open, as that would make it possible for my enemies to know where I am."_

The girl realized something right then: Peace was once again over, and they would be thrown into yet another battle against an unknown foe. Things just weren't easy for them, not since the day everything went wrong.

Still, she was a Senshi, and she would fight for the sake of mankind, for the sake of her friends, both those who were still here, and those who had died that day.

* * *

**A/N:** With no ChibiUsa around, Helios had to stay _somewhere_, and Chie's was the saner mind of the group. Which isn't saying a lot, actually.

If you remember what made the Dead Moon different from other enemies in my story, you will know next battle will be a challenge even for the two Holy Senshi around.


	4. Mirror of nightmares

**Cyber Moon: Dark World**

**Episode 4: Mirror of nightmares.**

_By Razor Knight_

_Last update: June 26, 2009_

* * *

Rei had, like the others, listened to Chie's story, and would have been as skeptical as them, if not for her abilities confirming part of the story. "Ami, Karin, I can at least tell you she's not lying about there being something inside her. I can clearly see a second aura in her. But it's not an evil aura."

Ami nodded. "So this Helios creature says he can't speak to us directly. I still don't get why we should help him."

Chie paused, listening to the voice only she could hear. It had been a good thing to hear Rei say she could also 'see' Helios, because Chie had still been unsure about it all not being just her own mind playing tricks on her. "The enemy will come looking for him, because he holds the only power which can stop them. If they get him, they'll get his power, and then they will become truly invincible."

"Those goons can't be stronger than Ami and Rei," Karin noted.

Chie nodded. "Not really..." she cringed as she 'heard' what Helios told her, "but their power is different than ours. It's hard to explain, but it doesn't matter how much power you have, as long as it's the wrong kind of power."

"I get it," Ami said, "like having a million spoons when you need a knife."

Chie smiled at that. "Good analogy."

"So, how are we supposed to fight those creeps?"

Chie waited for the answer, then looked at Ami. "For now, Helios needs to rest. His last battle against his enemies drained him, and he can only give a part of his power to... His host."

"How long will it take for him to be able to give us some power too?" Ami asked.

"He's not sure," Chie said. "Listen, I know this all sounds too..."

"When the enemy comes, you will be the only one with a chance to fight them. Are you aware of that?"

"Yes, but there's nothing I can do about it. When they come, I'll fight them. It's what Senshi do."

Ami nodded at that, but she was still skeptical about this. Not the fact Chie had _something_ inside, but the whole 'different powers' bit. She wouldn't be content with this until she did some field research.

* * *

"It's time for us to strike."

"So Neherenia finally lost her patience, huh?"

"Wouldn't you, after being trapped in that thing for centuries?"

"You've got a point, Tiger Eye. Are you going for it?"

"Yes. I have a target chosen already."

"Good luck, and bring me a souvenir."

"You can bring yourself one when your turn comes, Fish Eye."

"You're no fun."

"And you're annoying," Tiger Eye said before vanishing.

* * *

"Unknown energy signals detected in Mexico."

Ami frowned. "Mana readings?"

"None. Energy source unknown."

"That must mean it's _them_," Chie noted.

"Yes. Let's go."

"I can handle them."

"You don't really know that," Ami countered, "and I'm still not sure about what your inner friend said."

"Suits you," Chie muttered. "Let's go tell the others about this."

* * *

Minutes later, the four Senshi appeared in a village built in the center of what had once been Mexico City. They could see the enemy, a man with a strange hairdo and stranger clothes, who was looking at some sort of small mirror. Besides him, a teenage girl was tied up to a strange metal slab, and struggling to get free.

The man hadn't noticed them, and leaned forwards into the mirror, his head disappearing into it. As he did that, the teenager screamed in pain, her struggle ceasing almost instantly. "What a waste, that stupid thing wasn't here."

"Stop it right there!" Lilith shouted.

The man smiled and bowed at them. "I'm lucky, I came here looking for one cute girl, but I get five instead. Let me introduce myself, I'm Tiger Eye, and I'm here to search for a certain friend of mine. Have you seen him?"

Mercury smiled coldy. "Even if we had seen him, we wouldn't tell you, freak. Get out of our planet, or else..."

"Or else what?" Tiger Eye snapped back.

"Glad you asked," Mercury said. She summoned a dozen ice spikes, which shot at the man as fast as bullets. Despite their small size, they were charged with enough magic energy to blow a small city up.

Still, the man just stood there, smiling as the spikes hit him and vanished. "What was that, an attack? It didn't even tickle."

So that Helios wasn't lying. Still, it was annoying to her, she could get no readings whatsoever on this enemy. "Lilith, why don't you try your luck?"

Lilith nodded, summoning her talisman, her Karma dice. "Here goes nothing." The dice rolled, stopping with a double four. "Lights up, freak."

"What do you..." Tiger Eye started, but was stopped by a wave of light shooting up from the dice and swallowing him. As the attack ended, however, he was still there, and still unaffected. "Hmm, interesting little toys you have."

"Great, now what?" Mars muttered. It wasn't even worth trying her own fire attacks, as she could guess they would do no good.

_"Use my power. I know you can feel it if you focus."_

Lilith heard the voice in her mind, and sighed. Nothing to lose with trying. She could, indeed, feel something different in her as she closed her eyes. "Guess what, freak? I'm not done yet."

Tiger Eye laughed. "Oh, so you aren't? Go ahead, then."

"Of course I will," Lilith said as her hands lit up with energy. She whispered something, and a small circle of light appeared right in front of her.

"What the heck?" Mars said in shock. That attack wasn't the usual, and from the face Mercury had right now, she could tell her friend could see that too.

"Dream Charm!"

A wide beam shot out of the circle, hitting Tiger Eye straight in the chest, and dragging him back for a good block before fading. The man was too shocked and in too much pain to move. "Impossible."

"Nothing is impossible for us Senshi," Lilith snapped. "Dream..."

"Screw it, I'm out," Tiger Eye said before vanishing.

Mercury looked at her glove, then at Lilith, then shook her head. "This just doesn't make sense."

"What's wrong?" Lilith asked.

"I can't sense your magic power anymore."

"What, does that mean I'm so strong it can't get a reading?"

"The kind of energy you used for that blast is different from what we know, from mana. Maybe Ami's computer isn't built to measure it."

"That's a good guess," Mercury admitted, then walked to the victim, who had fallen to the ground in a heap after her attacker vanished. "I detect no physical damage, but..."

Lilith saw the girl was crying. "What's wrong with her?"

"I don't know, I wish I knew, but she's in shock right now."

"Let's take her to the village," Mars said, "and we'll see what we can do for her then."

* * *

"What happened to my daughter?"

Lilith flinched. The glare the woman was giving them was fierce. "Miss, we're sorry, but an evil being attacked her. We stopped him from killing her, but..."

"But what? What did that monster do to her?"

"We don't know," Mercury admitted, "but we'll stop them from harming anyone else. As far as I can tell, your daughter's just in shock from the attack."

The woman looked at her daughter, who was now sobbing as she sat on a chair. "I suppose I should thank you for saving her," she said, her initial anger mostly gone as she realized her daughter could've fared a lot worst if not for the Senshi's intervention.

"Here," Mercury gave the woman a small, round artifact. "If your daughter doesn't recover by tomorrow, just press that and we'll be here right away."

"Thanks, Senshi."

"No thanks needed," Mars said, "it's our duty to protect this planet."

* * *

Once they got back to the base, Mercury looked at Lilith. "I have some questions to make to your friend."

"Go ahead, he's listening," Lilith said.

"First off, what is exactly that energy you used?"

_"We call it dream energy, the only thing that can oppose my enemies' nightmare energy."_

Mercury listened as Lilith repeated what Helios said. "So they use a different energy source, and mana can't affect those beings. Got it. Okay, second question is, what exactly happened to that girl?"

Lilith heard Helios' answer, and her face lost color. "That's sick."

"What's wrong?" Mercury asked, noticing Lilith was shivering.

"What Tiger Eye did back then, it's horrible. See, I have Helios in my mind, but he isn't prodding it, he isn't damaging it. But that 'mirror' we saw is a physical representation of a person's mind, and what Tiger Eye did back then..."

Mercury looked at her in shock. "He forced himself into that girl's mind?"

"Yes, he breached her mental barriers, and poked around her mind, looking for Helios."

The other two Senshi had been silent, but Mars decided to speak her mind. "That's just... We can't let anyone else go through that!"

Lilith stood silent for a moment, then let out a dry chuckle. "You shouldn't worry about that, Rei. You should worry about yourself, actually."

Earth frowned. "What does that mean?"

Mercury made the connections fast. "They're looking for Helios, and they saw Lilith using Helios' power. So now they know Helios is in her."

"They know Helios is in one of us. As he said, given some rest, he can let us all use that power. In the 'best' case scenario, they'll come only after me, but if the enemy thinks Helios is fully recovered, then..."

"Then they will come after us all," Mercury guessed.

"We'll just have to make sure they can't get to us," Earth noted.

"Shit. This is what I get for wishing to be stronger."

"Chie..."

Lilith turned away. "I'm not sure I can protect you all, girls. I know I'll fail, and then you will get hurt."

"And nobody will blame you," Mercury said. "We know all too well that even when you give it your best, you can fail, and..."

"But I don't want it to be that way!" Lilith snapped. "I hate this, why did this horse choose me, why not..."

_"Because your heart is pure, and you care about others more than you care about yourself."_

"Bullshit," Lilith muttered, then left the room before the others could say a thing.

"Awesome. Life just keeps on getting better, doesn't it?"

Ami looked at Karin, then shook her head. "We'll defeat them."

"That doesn't change the facts. We could all end up worse than that poor girl, you know?"

Ami nodded. "I'm quite aware of that, but I trust my friends to help me if I fall. What about you?"

Karin's mood lightened at that. "Of course I trust you all, I'm just too used to see the glass half-empty lately."

* * *

"Tiger Eye, what happened?"

"A Senshi happened," the man said. "That bastard Helios is letting this planet's Senshi use his power."

"Hmm... That gives me an idea. We can be sure that horse is in one of them, right?"

"Of course, he will be better protected if he stays inside one of them."

"Then we just have to draw them out."

"What exactly are you planning, Fish Eye?"

"It's quite simple. I'll go and attack someone, those Senshi will surely detect me, and then they'll come to save the victim."

"They'll kick your ass, just like they kicked mine," Tiger Eye mused.

"Oh, but that's the beauty of this plan. You two will wait in the shadows, and attack them as soon as they show up."

"I like that plan," the other man in the room noticed.

"We like it, too!"

"You four..." Tiger Eye muttered.

The other man shook his head. "Tiger Eye, we could use their help."

"Thanks, Hawk Eye," one of the four girls that had just appeared said with a smile. "So, Fish Eye, what do you think?"

"The more, the merrier."

Tiger Eye nodded. "Hate to admit it, but there's at least four of those Senshi out there. Having numbers in our favor can only help."

"And we shouldn't fight amongst ourselves," Hawk Eye noted, "after all, our goal is one and the same."

"Yes, when we get that horsie, our Queen will destroy everything. Isn't that cute?"

"JunJun, you freak me out sometimes," Fish Eye muttered.

"Only sometimes? I must be losing my touch."

* * *

Chie woke up at the sound of the base's alarm. "Them again?"

As she walked into the main room, she saw the others were all there, already transformed. "Those freaks are back," Earth explained.

_"I'm curious about that crystal."_

Chie knew what Helios meant. _"It is... It was meant to be our main weapon, used only by our leader, but our leader's gone now, and that crystal's polluted with evil energy. Until we find a way to clean it out of evil, we're quite short in fire power."_

_"I understand. Maybe once this is over, I can try to help you with that."_

_"That would be good."_

"Uhm, you done with the inner dialogue yet?" Earth asked.

"Sorry, yes. Helios wanted to know about the Ginzuishou. Anyway, let's go beat whoever they sent this time around."

* * *

"Zirconia, I can't wait any longer."

The short, ugly creature stared at the woman who was staring back at her from the other side of the mirror. "My Queen, the time is near for you to be released. We already know who the ones hiding Helios are, and your soldiers are right now ambushing them. If everything goes according to plan, then we will capture Helios today."

"I hope that's the case, for my patience is growing thin."

The creature bowed at the woman then turned to leave. "Do not trouble yourself with negative thoughts, Nightmare Queen Neherenia."

* * *

As soon as the four Senshi reached their goal, they saw a man tied up to a metal slab, and a white-haired woman about to look into his mirror.

"Stop it right there, you evil girl!" Lilith snapped.

"Hahahaha..." Fish Eye turned to them and gave them a smile that made her look both cute and creepy. "Who said I'm a girl, I wonder?"

"But..." Lilith looked at Fish Eye then shook her head. "Damn it, something that cute just _can't_ be a man."

"Focus," Mercury hissed, "we have to defeat this girl, guy, or whatever _it_ is."

"You'll be the one defeated," Fish Eye said. "I knew you idiots would come to rescue whoever we attacked. You're rather stupid to fall for such a simple trap."

Mercury realized what Fish Eye meant, but it was already too late. Something hit her from behind, and she slumped to the ground, her mirror popping out of her chest before she fell. Lilith had, as usual, luck on her side, and the energy blast meant for her missed her barely. She looked at her three friends as they all fell. "What is going on?"

Six other figures appeared, Tiger Eye amongst them. He looked at one of the other girls and growled. "Cere, your aiming sucks."

"It does not," CereCere snapped back, "I think this little girl's got some kind of barrier up."

Mercury and Mars stood up, and as Mercury looked at her, Lilith could see their eyes were glazed over, as if they were in a trance. "Chie, leave."

"I can't do that, I have to save you!"

"If you don't leave, they'll get Helios!" Mars snapped. "Just go away already, you stupid girl!"

Lilith knew Mars didn't mean to insult her, and that she was right, but she couldn't just run away and abandon her friends. "Seven against one, I like the odds."

Fish Eye, Tiger Eye and Hawk Eye walked to the mirrors, while the four girls started shooting energy blasts at Lilith relentlessly. Lilith dodged them all rather easily, but at the same time, she couldn't stop the three other villains from looking into her friends' minds.

"Nothing here," Fish Eye noticed.

"Same here," the other two said.

Earth had just staggered up when Tiger Eye looked into her mirror. She let out a scream and fell to the ground, barely conscious. The other two, however, only flinched, and for a moment Lilith wondered if they were _that strong._ No, tears were falling down their cheeks, and she could only guess what they were feeling right now. "Ami, Rei, I'm sorry," she said, stopping only for a second before she had to jump away from another blast.

Mercury looked at the three villains closer to her, and her eyes returned to normal for a split second, before glazing over again. "I don't care if I can't use Helios power. I'll destroy those bitches with my own strength!"

Before anyone figured out what was happening, Mercury had already pinned Fish Eye and Tiger Eye against a wall, and was sending a relentless wave of ice through her hands and into their bodies.

"Hey, what's up with that girl?"

Lilith wondered the same thing, but then saw Mercury had the Ginzuishou floating near her. "No!"

_"What's wrong?"_

"In that state, if she uses too much of that crystal's power, she will die," Chie explained.

ParaPara overheard that and realized something. "Hey, the lucky bitch's the one with Helios' power!"

_"I'm too weak to help them, but maybe I can help you instead,"_ Helios said.

Lilith saw a crystal appear in front of her. It was similar to the Ginzuishou, but had what seemed like small clouds of different colors inside. "What is this?"

_"The dream crystal, what my world's strongest Senshi used before the enemy killed her."_

"Wait, why do you have..."

_"I'll explain later, for now, just use that crystal."_

Lilith grabbed the crystal, and could feel an inmediate raise in her power. The rush of energy was great, and from the looks of terror in her enemies' faces, she could tell they knew what was going on. "Luck's just turned completely to our side, freaks. Lilith Guardian Power!"

Mercury released the two she was holding, and fell to her knees. "Why... Why won't you die?"

Mars walked to Mercury, noticing the two men were quite shocked, but not really damaged by her attack. "Let's leave this one to Chie."

Mercury stood up and nodded. "I guess you're right. I'm too tired to try anything."

Mars frowned as her friend fell down. Again, Mercury had used the crystal, and again, the effect was as expected. She looked back at the battle, feeling quite weak herself to do anything else. Maybe having those mirrors outside, like with their heart crystals, was having an adverse effect on them.

Helios was thinking along those lines, too. _"Chie, before you attack the enemy, make those mirrors go back to where they belong."_

Lilith looked at the three mirrors. "Huh, I can do that?"

_"Yes, you have the power of the Dream Senshi right now, the only force that opposed these evil creatures in my home world."_

Lilith decided to stop asking and start acting, amused by the fact the seven soldiers were just staring at her in shock. "I see now, I know what to do." She pointed at the three mirrors, and they floated to their owners, vanishing as they reached them. "As for you all, freaks..."

Tiger Eye gasped. "This is not good, the plan failed."

"Retreat for now!" CereCere shouted.

"Cowards," Mars muttered. Her energy was coming back fast now that she had her mirror, but a part of her still wanted to sit down and cry. That brief moment when these monsters had looked into their minds, she was sure the others had felt the same, a pain too strange to describe, like their minds had been torn in half. "I want to get them, to destroy each one of them..."

Lilith looked at her. "Sorry, I failed to protect..."

Mars saw Lilith fall forwards and caught her before she hit the ground. "Chie!"

"Let's take her back. Let's go to the base."

Mars saw Mercury was up and looking at her, and simply nodded at her.

* * *

"Am I dead?"

"Not quite, but using that crystal, along with your power going up, was a bit too much for your body," Helios explained. "I'm sorry, I should have foreseen that."

"It's thanks to you that we're still alive," Chie said dismissively. "But while I'm out cold, you could explain a few things to me."

"You want to know why I have that crystal."

"Along with other things," Chie admitted.

Helios' form was filled with light, and changed into a humanoid shape. Where the Pegasus had been, now stood a boy wearing a white, regal suit. Chie knew it was still him, since he had a horn in his forehead, and his eyes were still the same. "This is my true form. I am... A Senshi. A Dream Senshi."

"Dream Senshi," Chie repeated, "but why do you have that crystal? Are you the leader?"

"No... She's gone. It happened centuries ago, we were a group that fought against evil in our world, but then, one of our own betrayed us. Neherenia, who was the younger of the two sisters that were the strongest in our group. She had always hated her sister's for having more power than her, and she let herself be consumed by the nightmare energy, she became what the enemy was lacking, a Queen of Nightmares to lead them in their path of destruction."

"But she was a Senshi, why would she do something like that?"

"As I said, jealousy. She was weak-minded, she wanted what her sister had, the power, the beauty... She wanted even me, who was married to her sister, to be hers. We fought her, of course, but when it came down to it, our leader couldn't hurt her own sister, even if she had turned to evil. She tried to save Neherenia, and paid the highest price for it."

"Neherenia killed her."

"Yes. But before she died, her last wish was for me to not kill her sister. Even after she had betrayed her and killed her, she believed Neherenia could be saved."

"So this Neherenia, is she powerful?"

"Indeed, she was stronger than me, and I was the strongest of the Dream Senshi now that my beloved was gone. She and her troops killed all my friends, and for a second I considered unleashing the full power of the Dream Crystal on her. But I couldn't break that promise I made."

"You let her escape?"

"No. I had promised not to kill her, but I gave Neherenia something worse than death, at least worst from her point of view. I trapped her inside her own dream mirror, sealing her powers away. Her allies have been chasing after me ever since, trying to get the crystal so they can unseal her."

Chie was silent for a minute, then sighed. "That's quite a story. And I feel weird, knowing that crystal I used was..."

"Your body will adapt to its power quickly. I'm glad I could see that, since I wasn't sure any of you would be able to use it to its full potential."

"Ami or Rei could... After all, they're stronger than me."

"But I fear I won't recover in time for that, Neherenia may mobilize her full army against us."

"We're talking about a few dozen monsters, or a few hundreds?"

"Even more than that," Helios admitted, then his face turned grim. "Chie, I have a favor to ask of you."

"What is it?"

"I swore that _I_ wouldn't kill her, so I want you to do that for me."

"I don't know if I can, I mean, I'm not that strong, and..."

"You've got the potential to be as strong as your allies, I've seen it in your mind."

Chie looked down for a moment, then smiled as she looked back at Helios. "I understand. I'll do everything I can to stop Neherenia."

"Thanks," Helios said. "But now it's time for you to return to reality."

"What do you..." Chie started, but then Helios and her surroundings vanished as she woke up.

* * *

**A/N:** This episode's for those who thought I was only going to give Mercury the task of killing the main bad guys (or rather 'bad girls,' bah.)

And I was planning to put the whole Dead Moon battle in one episode, but when I finished the battle of Senshi vs. Amazons, I felt it was too short and simple, so I rewrote it. The end result is what you could read here, and I also expanded a bit on Helios' story (He didn't give so much detail in Cyber Moon Chronicles.) If I added the final battle along with all that, the episode would be far too long for my liking.


	5. Mind games

**Cyber Moon: Dark World**

**Episode 5: Mind games.**

_By Razor Knight_

_Last update: July 7, 2009_

* * *

"Good to see you back with us."

Chie looked at the others. They were clearly still shaken by what had happened hours earlier. "Girls, listen. Helios told me Neherenia won't be sitting around forever, and that after what I did back then, she will surely come after us with all her force."

"What did you do, exactly?" Earth asked. "I missed most of it."

"I called upon the powers of a crystal which rivals our Ginzuishou's full power, one that belonged to someone important to Helios."

"If that was a Senshi crystal, then that means..."

Chie nodded at Ami. "Helios is a Senshi, himself, he told me that while I was out. Also, he told me of his foe, Neherenia. She was also a Senshi, but betrayed him and his allies out of jealousy, and killed them all."

Ami looked at the Ginzuishou, resting in the center of the room. The light it gave now was definitely brighter than ever before, even if the crystal itself was a sickly dark gray color. "I suppose that crystal is what this Neherenia is really after."

"Yes. Helios trapped her inside her own dream mirror, and the only way for her to get out of it would be if someone else used the crystal to break the seal."

"Why didn't he just kill her?" Mars asked.

"His leader, and from what I understood, lover, made him promise that he wouldn't kill Neherenia. She was her sister, and I think she still thought Neherenia could be saved."

"Sounds like Usagi," Rei noticed. "Okay then. Ami, Karin, keep an eye on the enemy."

"What are you planning?" Ami asked.

"I'll give this rookie some more training," Rei explained, "so she can hold her new form for longer, and she can get used to that crystal's power."

"The first part is possible," Ami admitted, "but the second, we can't risk it."

_'I agree, the Dream Crystal would drain you out, and if Neherenia were to attack while you're out of power, then your friends would be powerless.'_

"Helios agrees," Chie noted, "if the enemy attacks when I'm out of energy, it will be bad for us."

* * *

"You're all failures!"

Fish Eye, like the others, didn't dare looking up at their commander, Zirconia. "If we had tried to fight that human, then we would have died."

"That's still no excuse, you outnumbered her."

"Enough!"

Everyone turned to the mirror behid Zirconia. "Lady Neherenia?"

"As much as I hate to admit it, that human girl is too strong for our Amazons. Zirconia, I want you to lead the next attack. Focus only in that one Senshi, because the others can't hurt us yet."

Zirconia thought about it for a minute then looked at Neherenia again. "And when should we attack?"

"Attack right away. Don't give them time to recover."

* * *

Lilith didn't get this training. Unlike her combat training from before, all she had done for the last few hours was to stay transformed. "Rei, what's this about?"

Rei smiled. "It's simple, and you should have noticed it already. First few times you transformed, you only lasted for a couple minutes before powering down. Right now, it's been half an hour and you're still in Guardian form."

Ami was scanning Lilith, and smiled. "Your body adapted to this new form faster than I thought it would. I'm not sure how long you'll last if you use the Dream Crystal, though."

"Then I'll use it only as a last resort."

Ami looked away and cursed under her breath. "They're coming straight to us. I sense all seven freaks, plus a new, stronger one. "

_'Must be Zirconia, Neherenia's best warrior.'_

"That's Neherenia's best warrior," Lilith said. "Girls, stay here. "

"But if something happens to you, then what will we do?"

_'Chie, wait. Can you get a hold of the Ginzuishou?'_

"What for?" Lilith said outloud, not minding the confused looks of her friends.

_'I've been feeling something strange whenever that crystal was activated. Think you can activate it?'_

"I never tried," Lilith noted, "and if you're wrong, then what?"

_'Trust me,'_ Helios said.

"Right. Here goes nothing," Lilith said and walked to the Ginzuishou, putting her hands around it. "Now how does this thing... There!"

Ami saw the Ginzuishou shine with its eerie dark light for a few seconds, and then Lilith fell on her knees. "Chie, what the heck did you do?"

Lilith staggered up and smiled. "A gambit that worked just as Helios expected."

"What are you talking about?" Mars asked, but then felt it. "This power is..."

_'Yes, I absorbed energy from the Ginzuishou in order to give you all a part of my own power.'_ This time, the mental message went to all the Senshi, not just Lilith.

"That's great, now let's go and..." Lilith started, but then fell down. "Damn it."

_'I'm sorry, but you need to recover.'_

"Isn't that nice?" Lilith muttered. "Okay, girls, go out there and give those losers a beating for me."

"We will," Mars said before the other three vanished.

_'I hope they can win._

"They're at a higher level than me."

_'But as far as Dream Senshi goes, they're still at base level. '_

"It can never be easy for us, can it?"

* * *

"What is that thing?"

"I don't know, but it sure's ugly."

Zirconia looked at the three Senshi dismissively. "Are you here to give up?"

'Dream Pyre,' Mars thought and smiled as Zirconia was wrapped by a column of flames. "There's your answer."

Zirconia wasn't harmed by the attack at all. "Oh, I see Helios healed faster than expected."

"As long as that other wench doesn't show up, we can beat them easily," Hawk Eye noted.

Mercury had figured that out, too. Helios' powers were low, specially compared to their Holy level attacks. She could guess that even with the Ginzuishou's help, he couldn't have healed fast enough to...

"Die, humans!" Zirconia snapped, shooting three blasts of dark energy.

The three Senshi weren't about to let her hit, so they leapt out of the way. "Gaia's Whisper!"

Zirconia laughed Earth's attack off. "Dumb little girls, with powers as weak as those, you won't win this!"

Mercury looked at Mars. "Maybe it's time to try a different approach. "

Mars once again knew what Mercury was thinking. "Of course."

Earth saw the two reach their hands out. A red sword appeared in Mars' hands, while two different swords appeared in Mercury's hands. "Hey, I never saw you do that."

CereCere grimaced. "Their power is going up!"

The two Senshi vanished, and Earth searched the area. Were they going for ranged magic again? No, the answer came to her as she heard Fish Eye give a surprised yelp. A red blade was coming out of his chest, and the blade burst aflame, along with the villain's body, before anyone could figure what was going on.

Zirconia looked around. In a blink, two of her soldiers were gone, and these Senshi kept on moving around, making it impossible for them to hit. Also, she noticed that the third Senshi had realized what the plan was, and swiftly took care of JunJun.

Hawk Eye glared at the trio. "You morons, I'm not going to lose so easily."

Mercury snorted. He and Zirconia were the last ones. "Just stand still and we'll make this quick."

"You wish," Hawk Eye snapped. "Lemures, go forth!"

Earth backed away in shock. In a split second, hundreds of monsters had appeared, out of nowhere, and were all advancing on them. "Ami?"

Mercury was scanning the monsters. "They're weak, but their numbers are incredible. Rei, keep an eye on the two losers."

"Got it," Mars said, "are you sure you two can handle this?"

Mercury smiled at that. "We'll never know until we try." She run towards the mass of monsters and put her two swords in a cross. "Deadly Ice Kiss!"

Earth was about to comment on the silly name, but then saw what the attack looked like. A seemingly endless wave of ice blades shot forth from the crossed swords, piercing through countless monsters like they were made of paper. As the attack ended, Mercury kneeled on the ground, dropping her swords. "Ami, are you okay?"

"Yes, but I run out of energy."

Earth nodded. "My turn, then." She summoned her own crystal, the Terra Sigil. While not as powerful as the Ginzuishou (by far,) this crystal was still more than enough for what she wanted to do. "Gaia's Awakening!"

A fissure appeared in front of Earth, and the ground cracked all around the area, shooting rocks and dirt out and killing any creature that didn't dodge. Earth fell on her back as the attack ended, and grimaced. Only a few dozen monsters left, Rei could take care of that, but who would take care of the two main losers?

_'Help's on its way.'_

Mars didn't really know what Helios meant, but decided to trust him. "You two should stop hiding behind these weaklings."

"Oh, but it's working, you'll drain yourself killing them, and then we'll destroy you," Hawk Eye explained.

"We'll see about that." Mars' hands burst aflame, and she punched the ground. "Flaming Nightmare!"

The remaining monsters were turned into ashes by a large wave of flames. Mars smiled and walked to Hawk Eye. "Now is your turn."

Zirconia shot an energy blast at Mars, who leapt up to dodge. "Now!"

Hawk Eye smiled and shot a blast of his own, catching Mars off-guard. As the Senshi fell, he laughed. "You three are really stupid, don't you see we've already won?" He then stopped and looked down at the blade coming out of his chest. "Damn it. Zirconia, I'm sorry..."

Zirconia saw Lilith standing next to Hawk Eye's limp form and glared at her. "You pest, I'm going to eliminate you!"

Lilith smiled and summoned the Dream Crystal. "That's weird, I was about to say the same thing to you."

"Even with that crystal, you're no match for me!"

Lilith turned to the others as Zirconia shot a wave of dark energy at her. "Stay out of this, I'll get her." She then turned back to her foe, and shot a blast of her own, stopping Zirconia's blast. "I know you're right, Zirconia, I can only match your power, not surpass it."

"Hah, then you're doomed. I have more than enough energy at my reach to keep on fighting for hours!"

"However, I never said I was alone."

"Eternal Dream Requiem."

Zirconia couldn't even scream before a wave of light hit her from behind, vaporizing her on the spot. Lilith smiled at Helios, but saw the man was barely standing. "Helios!"

"I hadn't recovered as much as I thought," Helios said. "But don't worry about me. Go get Neherenia."

Lilith bit her lip, unsure of what to do. "But with the power I have, I may not be able to kill her."

"Then maybe the power of two worlds will be needed."

Lilith nodded and vanished. Helios walked to where the others were. "This war's already over. I thank you for your help."

"Won't you go check Neherenia?"

"There's no need for that. I know Chie can do it."

* * *

Lilith had, meanwhile, appeared inside the dark, cold room where Neherenia's mirror was. "Strange, no monsters here."

"How... What happened to my soldiers?"

"_We_ happened," Lilith mused, looking at Neherenia. She had to admit the woman trapped behind the mirror didn't really look like a villain. In fact, Neherenia was staring at her in shock, her face losing color. "I wonder, was what Helios told me the whole truth?"

"What did he say, that I killed Nyx and the rest of the Dream Senshi? Yes, it's true, and I don't regret doing it."

Lilith guessed Nyx was the name of Helios' wife. "I see. You're quite a pitiful creature, Neherenia. Without your lackeys, you're nothing but a scared little girl."

"Let me get out of this mirror and we'll see who the little girl is. "

"No, I won't do that. But I won't kill you, either."

"Then you're really stupid. Once I get out of here..."

"You won't, you are powerless on your own, and your allies are gone. I think I can agree with what Nyx wanted, death wouldn't be enough of a punishment for you. Living eternally, trapped in there, will be your curse."

Helios appeared besides her, along with the rest of the Senshi. "You didn't kill her?"

"As I just told her, I think her current state is a far better punishment for her crimes."

"She's completely sealed in there, and she has no powers at all," Mercury agreed as she scanned the mirror.

"Then I will honor my promise, and will allow her to live."

* * *

Chie looked at the monitor showing the outside. One week had passed since Helios left for his homeworld. He said he was fully recovered, and that he had to defeat the few, weak underlings Neherenia still had there.

And she missed him, despite herself. Although at first the whole thing had been unwelcome, she grew used to feeling his presence in her mind. Her mind felt empty, that was the best way to explain how she felt right now.

The monitor suddenly changed its image, and that surprised her a bit, as she was too focused in thoughts of the last few battles. What the monitor was showing now, was an unknown being, a woman clad in black, who was simply floating over the remains of Tokyo. Chie knew what the numbers being displayed around the woman meant, though, and it made her shiver.

Ami rushed in, followed closely by Rei. The two nodded at Chie before they both also stared at the monitor in shock. "That woman's power is unbelievable!" Rei noted.

Ami nodded. Yes, that woman's power was almost as high as their own. She seemed to be staring down at the wrecked Tokyo in confusion, or maybe she was looking for something. Ami couldn't really tell how, but even with that mask on, she felt like she had seen her before.

Rei flinched and staggered back. "I tried to sense evil in her, but there's none. However, she's a psychic, and an extremely powerful one."

A psychic? That gave Ami the answer she was looking for. "That must be Nova."

"Nova? You mean... Wasn't she dead?"

"Who's Nova?" Chie asked, still looking at the screen.

"Terry's girlfriend," Ami said, "and yes, she should be dead. If she's alive, then Terry coming here, his death... They were all for naught."

Rei put a hand on Ami's shoulder. "I don't think so. You met him, that was a good enough reason to come here."

Ami nodded, looking at the woman again. "I think I know what's going on, at least what Nova is thinking right now. She must be confused and scared, since the last she remembers is from before the war. If we don't go there and tell her what's happened, she could blow up. "

"Blow up?" Chie asked. That didn't sound nice.

"Terry told me about Hana's powers. She normally kept them in check, using only what she needed to use, but if something serious happened, she could lose her control, and... Well, you are seeing the numbers around her right now. That's her potential power, the power she's supressing. If she were to let it all out, she could become something unstoppable."

"Then we better go talk to..."

"No, you two stay," Ami said, interrupting Karin. "If that girl goes berserk, we may survive her attacks, but you two would not last long. "

Karin saw Ami and Rei vanish and growled. She knew they were right, yes, but she was tired of this, tired of being so damn useless. "What's the point?"

Chie knew what she meant. "You need to train more, that's all."

"I'm starting to think that's just bullshit," Karin admitted. "After all, you three all got upgrades out of the blue."

Chie glared at her friend. "You know, you're being unfair there. Ami and Rei... Well, you heard their story, you know it wasn't the 'easy' way for them. Me, I must admit I got lucky in my last upgrade, but I could have died using that power."

Karin looked away. "Sorry, I think... I need to be alone. Call me if anything happens."

Chie simply nodded as Karin walked out of the room. She could understand how she feel, because she was feeling the same way right now.

* * *

This was wrong. She was supposed to be dead. She had only been in this nightmare for a few minutes, and she already wished she would go back to that nothingness that death was.

She remembered clearly, the day she died. She could still see Terry's face as he realized she couldn't be saved. She knew she had died, and she knew this body, it wasn't the same. It felt human, yes, but if she focused, she could tell this body channeled her power far better than she had ever been able to.

In her current state of mind, however, that wasn't a good thing. She was confused, she was scared of what she was seeing, and she was afraid she would find out Terry had been... No, she couldn't think like that, she couldn't give in to her fears. She could sense a few extremely powerful beings, and the stronger two approached her fast.

So, she waited. It took only a minute for the two to appear, right in front of her. She had seen the pictures of these 'heroines' around, the Sailor Senshi, but she didn't know they had wings. "Who are you?"

"We're on your side," Mars said.

"I won't know that until..."

"Terry would have liked to see you again," Mercury noted, "but this world... Nothing is how you remember it."

"What?"

Mars frowned at that. What was Mercury thinking? If Nova lost control, then... But she realized hiding the truth wasn't going to do them any good in the long run. "We know who you are, Hana, and we know you aren't evil. We are what's left of this planet's defense forces after a war that destroyed most of mankind several years ago. "

Nova stared at them in shock, for several seconds, before she dropped to the ground. Hearing what these two women were telling her should have caused her anger to explode, but... She needed to know more, she needed to know just what had happened. "Can I ask you something?"

Mercury was surprised by that. "Uhm, yes?"

"What language are we speaking?"

"Japanese," Mercury said, still confused.

"Oh, I see. So I'm in some Mad Max version of my own world, and I speak Japanese fluently, a language I knew nothing about before I died."

"Whoever revived you must have found reasons for you to know it."

"Where are we?"

"This used to be Tokyo," Mars said, "it was destroyed by one of our own, in an attempt to stop an incredibly powerful evil being."

"You spoke of a war. Was it just a local war?"

Mercury sighed. She could see the girl was winging the subject she dreaded asking, but she chose to humor her for the time being. "Let me tell you just what happened. We were fighting the youma, and we thought we were winning. But they broke the balance by killing our leader, and their queen gained an immense power after that. We were powerless to stop them, and after the initial attack, only four of us were left."

Mars was next. "In the end, we managed to kill their queen, and then destroyed all of their race. I'm not proud to say that I was all too eager to anihilate their whole race, but as far as I'm concerned, they deserved it."

"So New York was also..."

Mercury looked at Nova, making it clear she knew what she was feeling. "None of the Earth's big cities was left standing."

Then it was almost a given. Terry was gone. But from what these women said, then those responsible for his dead were also gone. There was no point for her to be around at all. "Then Terry is..."

"Hana..."

It finally hit her. "How do you know my name?"

"Because Terry talked about you. A lot," Mercury said. "He was... We didn't know at first, but he was one of us, a Senshi. I'm sorry, but I was there when he died..."

Nova let out a snarl and vanished. In a split second, she had punched Mercury back, knocking her into a wall, and was punching her relentlessly, a clearly visible aura swirling around her. "You were there, you say? Why didn't you save him!"

Mars flinched. No matter how one looked at this, it wasn't like the time Chie attacked her. No, Nova was actually hurting Ami. But Mars didn't dare moving, she could attack this girl. She knew she was just reacting to what she had heard, and also... Ami wasn't fighting back, wasn't resisting. That meant she accepted this punishment.

Finally, Mercury clutched both of the girl's fists with her own, and glared at her. "I was there, I tried to save him, and I failed. Just like Terry tried to save you. But I know what you feel, I know I blamed myself for a long time. I really wish I could have saved him, even if I had to die to do it."

Nova stood up, noticing her flurry of psi-charged punches hadn't really hurt Mercury as much as she had hoped it would, it just gave her a few bruises. "I... Sorry about that outburst, I just couldn't stand this whole mess anymore."

Mercury nodded. "I understand how you feel, I live in this nightmare. "

Nova looked around, taking her time to notice just how devastated everything was. "How did you meet him?"

"He came to Japan looking for Luminite," Mercury explained, noticing the growl Nova let out at the mention of that name, "and he met us here. He helped us a lot, but I know in the end, he only wanted to kill Luminite. And he got to do it, a few days before this happened. " As she said that, she looked around.

"How did you revive?" Mars asked.

"I don't know. I woke up in some underground complex. Most of the tunnels had caved in, from what I could see, but the room where I was was still relatively intact. As soon as I got out of my initial confusion, I reached out with my senses, but only sensed you four in this city."

"Maybe it was Onara's work."

"Onara?" Nova asked. "I know I've heard that name before."

"He was an ally to the Dark Kingdom, and he tried to kill us, shortly after we defeated Queen Beryl," Mars said. "He had some strange weapon which he was sure would defeat us. I used my shield to stop it from doing any harm to us, but his weapon overloaded and exploded."

"He was an expert in robotics and genetics, from what I could read of him," Mercury said. "He's the only person I know with the resources and knowledge to bring you back. Maybe he meant to use you as a weapon."

"Good riddance, then," Nova said. "I don't suppose you have room for one more in your group?"

"The more, the merrier," Mercury said, "besides, you could be interested in what we're planning."

Nova smiled. Whatever it was, she supposed it could keep her mind away from all she had lost. And if these women had been keeping the world in one piece for a while, then it would be stupid not to stay around them. After all, that was what she and Terry had always wanted to do, protecting those who weren't strong enough to protect themselves.

She had never believed in reincarnation, magic and all that stuff, but right now... She was a living proof of the first, and had met two magicians. Things were different now, and she knew it would take a while for her to get used to this new world.

* * *

**A/N:** Nyx was the goddess of the night for the Greek.

As for Nova, remember the scientist had her go through a bit of brainwashing before she was revived, that's why this Nova still remembers what really happened the day she died.

_X00001:_ If by "those two" you mean Mars and Mercury, they're as strong as all the 'Inners' were in the final battle of Chronicles, when they shot their last barrage of attacks at Black Lady.


	6. War of the Senshi

**Cyber Moon: Dark World**

**Episode 6: War of the Senshi.**

_By Razor Knight_

_Last update: July 28, 2009_

* * *

Hana Thompson had always looked at the bright side of life, and that was one of the things her friends liked about her. But in her current situation, in this post-apocalyptic Earth she had awakened in, she found it hard to _find_ said bright side.

The others had told her all that had happened while she wasn't amongst the living. It was frightening to know that there could be creatures out there with more power than the Senshi, and she was still not at ease when Ami and Rei were around in their Senshi form.

She looked at the Ginzuishou. The energy reserves of that crystal wer unmeasurable, and so was its power. She had tried to 'look' into the crystal once, to see if there was a way to remove the evil in it, but she got a day-long headache for that. She was sure that had been just a 'warning' of the crystal, and that if she tried to probe it again with her powers, it could pretty much fry her mind on the spot.

"Things are really calm lately. It's annoying, I know something must be out there, waiting for the right moment to attack."

Hana could only agree with Ami. In the nine days she had been around, not a single evil creature had appeared. Maybe, she had told the others, that Neherenia woman had been the last one. But Ami couldn't agree to that, and said there surely were other threats to their planet out there. Maybe it was paranoia, or maybe Ami knew things she wasn't telling her.

It had been a shock for her, to know Ami and Rei had brought alternate versions of all their friends to their world. Even Terry. Hana could tell, even though Ami had never mentioned it, that Terry meant the blue-haired girl a lot more than she was saying. She didn't even need her psychic powers to know that, she used a different tone when talking about him, and her body language also gave her true feelings away.

They had told them that, if the crystal was ever restored to its true form, then they could have a chance to revive their friends. That gave Hana hope, but also rose a question in her mind. If Terry was still alive, who would he choose? And if Terry's choice was what she dreaded, how would she react to it? She couldn't be sure until it happened. If it ever happened.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Hana nodded at Chie. "Yes. I'm just giving some things a lot of thought lately."

"Who isn't?" Chie noted. "Ami, have you made any progress with your search?"

"No, I think I've finally hit the end of the road. All we can do now is wait until the Ginziushou returns to normal."

"Good, a dozen evil superbeings more should do that."

The area was suddenly rocked by an explosion. Ami sighed, not even turning to look at the computer. "Rei did it. Karin's just reached Guardian level."

"I wonder how many years we'll take to get to Holy."

Ami frowned. "Unfortunately, there's no way to make training faster without risking your deaths."

"Great," Chie muttered, then frowned. "What about the limbo?"

"Limbo?" Hana asked.

"The place where Pluto should be, if she was still alive," Chie explained. "You told us about it before, Ami."

"Yes, but we can't go there without either the powers of a Pluto Senshi or," she looked at the Ginzuishou before saying the next bit, "a Moon Senshi with enough control over her crystal."

"Good to know," Chie said, then saw Rei and Karin walk in. "Way to go, Karin!"

"Thanks, but I'm still a weakling. Comparatively speaking, I mean. "

Hana suddenly looked around. "I can sense a very strong creature out there."

"Can you be a bit more specific?" Karin asked.

Ami was looking at the computer. "She's right outside the door. But this can't be..." As Ami rushed out of the room, the others stood confused for a few seconds, before following her lead.

* * *

Hana was the last to reach the outer door of the base. As it opened, she could see something she wasn't expecting. Ami was looking down at a small, red-haired girl who simply smiled up at her. "That little girl's got more..."

"More power than even Rei and me," Ami admitted. "Who are you?"

"Chibi!"

"... That much power, and she can't even speak?" Chie mused.

"Maybe I can help," Hana said and concentrated. She stood there, frozen in place for a few seconds, before she fell to her knees, screaming in pain.

"Hana?"

"That girl's mind is strong. I can't see a thing in there, and when I tried to probe further on, she..." she paused for a second, then sighed as she continued, "best way to put it is, she kicked me out of her mind."

"Chibi."

"She's not evil," Rei noted. "I can tell."

Ami looked down at the girl. "Where do you come from?"

"Chibi Chibi."

"Why can't you tell us?"

"Chibi."

"Wait, you can understand her?" Chie asked, confusion creeping into her voice.

"Rei has her unbreakable shield, but my power is different. I can control computers at a distance, and can understand any language after only hearing or reading a few words in it."

"So she's got a language there? All I hear is chibi," Karin noted.

"Yes, it depends on her tone and her body language," Ami said calmly.

"Chibi chibi?"

"Yes, we're the only Senshi of this world."

"Chibi..."

Ami looked at the others. "She says we're not enough to stop her."

"Stop who?" Rei asked.

"Chibi chibi. Chibi."

Ami's face went pale. "That can't be, she's just a legend."

"Chibi."

"And she's heading to this world?"

"Chibi!"

"Hey, care to translate?" Chie asked, annoyed by the little girl's one-word speech.

"This little girl may be right in saying we can't beat our next visitor," Ami admitted, "since she says Sailor Galaxia is going to be here soon."

The others looked at her, still not understanding what that meant. "Sailor Galaxia? Someone else from our team?"

Ami shook her head at Karin. "No, she's a rogue, a legendary Senshi, as evil as Neherenia."

"Her name better not mean what I think it does," Hana noted.

"Huh?" Chie was still confused, but realized what Hana was talking about fast. "Wait... Sailor Mars, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Earth... No way! Does that mean that Galaxia woman's got the power of our whole galaxy?"

"We're screwed, huh?" Karin mused.

* * *

Elsewhere, three figures stood on a cliff, looking down at a small village surrounded by a thick forest.

"The princess is in this world. We must find her."

"This world's almost as devastated as ours. Think Galaxia's already here?"

"That can't be. Something else must have attacked this world."

"Then it better not be still alive. We can't afford to fight it and Galaxia at the same time."

"What about this world's Senshi?"

"There's two of them who could hold their ground against Galaxia."

"Then maybe we should ask for their help?"

"No, Galaxia's pets must be looking over them. We should stay in the shadows and strike while they're attacking."

"That's a good plan, Maker."

* * *

As soon as they entered the base, the small girl's eyes fixated on the Ginzuishou, and she walked to it. The crystal shone as the girl approached, but then fell back to its dull black form.

"Careful with that, it's not a toy," Karin noted.

"Chibi. Chibi!" the girl said, smiling as the crystal floated to her outstretched hand.

"'I know what this crystal is,'" Ami translated, then frowned as the girl said something else. "When her true form awakens, she will try and fix it. Right now, she's too weak to do it."

"Too weak?" Hana said, disbelief showing in her tone. "That girl could punch Mars and Mercury around."

Karin chuckled. "Are you serious, that little brat's a Holy Senshi?"

"Chibi!"

"Yes," Ami said, "she's at that level, but it won't be enough if she's not accepted by the crystal."

"Oh, I get it," Chie muttered. "Just like Ami or me, she's not a Moon Senshi, she needs far more mana to use the crystal than Sailor Moon would."

"That's correct. So I guess we should help this little girl reach her 'true form,' and if I'm not mistaken, that means defeating Sailor Galaxia."

Karin sighed as the small girl 'said' something else. "What's her name?"

Ami listened and then smiled. "She says her name is Gala." She then turned serious again, "but there's no way for us to defeat Galaxia."

"Thanks for the support," Chie muttered.

Ami again waited for 'Gala' to speak. "It's not only a matter of the difference in power. Galaxia has defeated hundreds of Senshi at Holy level. She cannot be defeated with sheer power."

"If you knew that, why didn't you help?"

Ami frowned at Gala's words. "I tried, but few worlds have Senshi that could understand me... And none of them listened to my warnings. " She then sighed as she looked at the others. "I think the saying goes 'listen to your elders,' right?"

"But she's just a..."

Rei's chuckle interrupted Karin. "If she's been chasing after Galaxia, then she might be a few centuries old, or even more."

Ami nodded. "This is not her true form." She heard Gala say something else and took a few steps back. "No fucking way."

"Ami?" Rei cringed. It wasn't often that Ami cursed nowadays, so this had to be bad.

"She said... This child form of hers only has around one percent of her true power."

"What? She must be stronger than even that Galaxia woman, then."

"Chibi chibi, chibi."

Ami smiled at that. "She said, 'when my true form awakens, Queen Galaxia will be gone.'"

"I thought Holy was the last level for Senshi," Chie noted.

"It's not," Ami admitted, "if this girl's saying the truth, and I have no reason to doubt her, then my own power's nothing compared to hers, or Galaxia's."

"That's quite hard to believe. You could blast a small village to dust on a whim."

Ami smiled at Karin. "If that's so, then Galaxia could possibly blast the whole Earth to dust on a whim. Let's just hope we can stop her from doing that."

* * *

"There are only a few Senshi in this world. What do you think, Siren?"

"If only two of them can fight at our level, then we should just throttle them and take their seeds."

A woman clad in a golden armor that looked close to a Senshi suit walked in right then. "That plan would be good, but I'm detecting our fugitives here. And their Princess is here as well. I suppose their plan is to wait for you to attack and then stop you."

"Queen Galaxia, while I agree with you, the Princess won't come out of hiding that easily. She may wait until you are there."

Galaxia laughed at that. "Let her try, Crow. She knows she can't win, she's just struggling in vain."

* * *

Ami looked at the data in her visor and smiled. "Guess Gala's story is true. There are records of a legendary First Serenity, a warrior whose power 'could erase evil with but a wave of her hand.'"

"Do your powers even have a limit?" Hana mused.

"Chibi chibi."

"'We were created to stop evil. Evil has no limits.'"

"I think that's a good way to answer that question," Chie noted.

Ami was still reading the text in her visor. "She fought a powerful evil force and won, but was deadly wounded in that battle. After that, her daughter found several other humans who were able to withstand the powers she had inherited, and formed the first Senshi team ever."

"What's that computer, anyhow?" Hana asked.

"The last source of data on the ancient history of mankind, the last existing 'copy' of the Great Mercurian Library, a place I remember spending days on in my past life."

"So you were a bookworm past then, too," Rei mused.

"What's important is, this gave me a clue on something. The First Serenity was also called Aeon Sailor Moon."

"Aeon? Silly name."

"Who cares about silly?" Ami muttered. "The thing is, that one woman could have been as powerful as Galaxia, or even more powerful than her. And she was also the true _first_ Senshi. I would need to read on history after that point, but I'm giving a wild guess here: All the Senshi in this galaxy are most likely descendants of those first Senshi."

"So they all came from here, but then forgot about it?" Karin asked. "That sounds unlikely."

"There's been a few _million_ years since that First Serenity appeared," Ami noted. "I know I never read about her back in the past, which meant the info on her was hidden, or nobody remembered it existed."

"Your kind has been around millions of years?" Hana asked. "That's quite incredible."

"Believe what you might," Ami said as her visor vanished, "and in any case, none of that changes our current situation."

"Chibi."

"She's here," Ami explained.

"Who is..." Karin started, but then everything around her exploded.

* * *

Siren looked at the smoking, scorched crater and gave a theatrical sigh. "Don't tell me you killed them."

"Mrow, don't be stupid," Nyanko said, "that was just to get their attention."

"Here they come," Crow noted.

The others nodded, they could clearly see five figures in the crater. Three of them floated above it, while the other two stood glaring at the intruders. "Guess you pissed them off, Nyanko."

Mercury looked around. Their base had been totalled in just one blast, but she wasn't worried about that right now. "Earth, Lilith, are you okay?"

Earth nodded along with Lilith, both knowing that when Ami called them by their Senshi names, it meant she was in full battle mode.

"Earth Senshi, let's make this easy on you. Surrender now and your deaths will be swift."

"And then what?" Lilith snapped.

"And then our glorious Queen will take your star seeds, along with all the seeds in this ugly planet."

"Hey, where's the kindergarden Senshi?" Mars asked, finally noticing Gala was missing.

"I can't sense her," Mercury admitted, "but she wouldn't die from that, if we survived."

"So she's planning something," Mars noted, "good to know."

"So, what's your answer?" Crow asked.

"Here's our answer!" Nova snapped as her eyes went white.

"What the..." Nyanko muttered as Crow fell to her knees, screaming in pain.

"Earth, Lilith, try to keep the one in the rat disguise busy," Mercury said, "she's the weakest of them, but don't think she'll be easy to fight."

"Think we can win this?" Mars asked as the two rushed at the catgirl and the fishgirl.

"We Senshi never lose," Mercury said, mentally dismissing the fact that their enemies were also Senshi.

* * *

"This is incredible."

"I agree, I didn't think these Senshi had a chance."

"Fighter, Iron Mouse is beating up the two weaker Senshi."

"We must wait," Fighter said.

"If Iron Mouse gets rid of those two, she will attack the one keeping Crow in check, and then they both will tackle the two Holy Senshi."

Fighter took a moment to think about it. "If we come out of hiding now, Galaxia could attack us. But we won't be able to defeat Galaxia on our own, not without the Princess."

"Then there's only one thing to do, right?"

"That's true, Healer. Let's go."

* * *

Iron Mouse smirked. While the two fighting Tin Nyanko and Aluminium Siren were strong, the two that went after her were jokes. If the situation was different, she would have played a bit with them before killing them, but she could see Lead Crow was in pain. Whatever that black-clad woman was doing, it wasn't good.

"Fissure Trap!"

Mouse leapt up as the ground underneath her split. She floated in mid-air and laughed. "Nice try, but you're just not up to the fight, girls."

"Starlight Laser!"

"Starlight Inferno!"

"Starlight Thunder!"

Mouse bounced on the ground once before stopping. The barrage had taken her by surprise, and much despite herself, she knew these three had more than enough power to beat any of them. They had, after all, killed Papillion. "You bastards, always sneaking in."

"You two, go help your two friends," Star Fighter, the one with black hair, said.

Earth looked at the three figures and groaned. "More Senshi, huh?"

"And they're apparently stronger than even Ami and Rei," Lilith noted.

"In any case, they're right, we should go help those two."

"What about the birdgirl?"

"Nova's frying her brain, no need to worry about her."

* * *

Galaxia looked at the monitors and laughed. Those three were really predictable. She could go out, right now, and eliminate them, but that had never been her plan. No, she would kill their princess first, then kill the Senshi of this world, and then she would make those three 'Starlight Senshi' part of her Animates. Whether they killed some of her soldiers was unimportant to her. Her soldiers were the best of the best, and if something out there killed them, it just meant she would have to turn whoever did it into her slave.

* * *

"Mrow, what's this? Are you going to just stay in there all day?"

Mars smirked as Nyanko shot yet another missile at her. The catgirl was closing in on her shield, most likely thinking about breaking through with raw physical power. But that wasn't going to work.

"Don't make me go in there, girl!"

"You can't get through this shield, no matter what you do," Mars teased from inside the dome.

"Of course I can, silly girl. Don't you know a cat always plays with its prey before killing it?"

Mars saw Nyanko vanish, but she wasn't surprised at all. In fact, she could sense her appearing right behind her, inside the dome, and she knew the catgirl was preparing to attack. To bad she had literally walked out of the frying pan and straight into the oven. "Then I guess I'm a lot like a cat, too," she said before she mentally summoned one of her attacks. Everything around her burst aflame, even air itself, and the ground under her feet melt in a matter of seconds. Still, Mars was just standing there, not affected by the heat at all.

For Tin Nyanko, however, things were very different. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't see anything, and she felt her suit and her skin burning. She knew teleporting out of the dome was her only choice, but before she could do it, something else happened, something she couldn't believe was possible.

The dome got many times hotter than before.

Mars smiled as she heard Nyanko's pitiful scream. It only lasted for a few seconds, as even someone with as much power as she had would not be able to resist this level of heat for too long. She didn't need to look at Nyanko to know the flames inside the dome had turned her into a living pyre, consuming flesh and bones until not even cinder was left.

She let the dome vanish and looked around. Nova was still doing whatever she was doing with that bird-suited woman. Ami had the fish-suited woman under control, and the rat one was being beaten up by some black-clad Senshi.

But where was Galaxia? Why wasn't she helping her soldiers?

* * *

Nova wasn't really an expert when it came to mind battling. True, her powers made her potentially invincible in that field, but she had never liked to use that ability. So in the current 'battle' she was stronger than her enemy, but her enemy had the upper hand.

This was a battle of minds, but the 'battlefield' they were on looked pretty much like the place they had been standing on before Nova attacked. It was what Lead Crow's mind had chosen (she could see her enemy's name in her mind now) and the Lead Crow fighting her was different, wearing a golden armor-like Senshi suit, and looking far more intimidating.

"You foolish thing, this is my mind, you're not going to defeat me in here."

"I don't need to," Nova said with a smile.

"What do you mean, you stupid human?" Crow growled.

It didn't matter if Crow knew what Nova was planning. All she had to do was to keep her busy in this plane, while her body outside was frozen in place, and wait for one of the Senshi on her side to kill her.

Crow fled straight at her, and Nova floated away. "Stay put so I can tear you apart!"

"Not going to happen," Nova snapped back.

"Suits you," Crow said, then vanished.

Nova looked around. She knew her enemy was up to something, but what was it? The answer came as a dozen Lead Crow lookalikes appeared, all around her, and charged at her as one. Nova did her best to dodge, but one of the clones hit her, knocking her out of the sky. Before she knew it, she was getting punched and kicked by all of them. Had this been her physical body, she would have died in only a few seconds. Her mind was far more resilent, but it was still not good at all to be attacked like this. If she didn't find a way out of this, then she would die.

No, she couldn't die, not until she got to see Terry again.

The Crow clones all stopped attacked and stepped back as Nova's body shone with light. "What the heck is that?"

"I hate using my powers like this, but normal mental attacks won't help me this time around."

Crow's clones vanished, leaving only the original there, who stared in shock and fear as Nova stood up. Yes, the woman was bruised and bleeding, but that didn't make her any less threatening as she stared at Crow with blank eyes, her body covered in a white aura. "No, what is this, you can't have that much power, you're just a human weakling!"

"You're wrong, I'm not just a human," Nova said, then smiled coldly at Crow. "Now die."

* * *

Earth and Lilith stared in shock as Crow gave an inarticulated scream, then fell to the ground. They had both been about to attack, hoping to help Nova, but it was clear to them that she didn't really need the help. "Hana?"

Nova's eyes returned to normal and she fell on her knees. "I'll be fine, but I burnt most of my energy in that attack."

"What did you do to her?" Earth asked. Crow was obviously dead. It was a bit unsetting to know Hana had enough mental power to kill a Holy Senshi like that.

"What I did? I erased her mind. But not just in the normal sense of the word, I didn't just erase her memories, I erased everything in her mind, her instincts, her psyche. Without a brain to tell it how to keep on going, her body just stopped working."

"Now that's a nasty way to die if I ever saw one," Lilith admitted.

Nova nodded. "And it's one power I always knew I had, but... I never thought I would use it. It doesn't feel good when you're doing it, when you're erasing a mind."

Lilith looked around and smiled. "Only Ami's enemy is left."

"So we won this battle," Earth said, "but if these freaks were strong, I can't really imagine how strong Galaxia will be."

* * *

Siren and Mercury had been pretty even from the start. Both used ice and water, so they had a higher resistance to them. Melee was also a moot point, since while they both could look 'harmless' to the untrained eye, they were both strong and skilled at melee.

Mercury didn't need to summon her visor, her mind was aware of what her glove was telling her. All the other enemies had been eliminated, and there were three newcomers who had taken care of the rat-like woman. Three against one didn't say anything good about their morals, but in their current situation, she couldn't complain about getting reinforcements.

Siren was fed off. This lowly water bitch was trying to one-up her, and she hated to be put at the same level as her. She knew her allies were gone, but that wasn't worrying her now. She would have time to feel bad about them, once she was done killing this ice bitch, and her friends.

Mercury saw a thin blue aura surround Siren's body and flinched. "That can't be good."

"You bet, stupid brat. I didn't want to use my full power against someone as weak as you, but it seems I underestimated you a bit."

Mercury saw the data her computer was gathering in her mind, and didn't like the numbers she saw at all. Whatever this woman was going to shoot at her, she had to dodge it.

"You're lucky, girl, not many get to see the true power of the Animates! Galactic Ice Core!"

Mercury saw a large ball of concentrated ice shot at her, and teleported out of the way. However, and to her shock, the ball corrected its course, speeding up as it did. She teleported again, but the ball once again headed her way, this time too fast for her to dodge it.

Siren walked slowly, savoring her victory. Mercury was on the ground now, bruised and weak, and she knew she only had to give her the finishing blow. But why rush death, when one could enjoy it? "Poor little human girl, thinking she could defeat one of the Animates."

"My friends did it with the others."

"Hmph. They can be revived later on," Siren noted. She was now only a few feet away from Mercury, who was visibly in pain. "Any last words before I kill you, weakling?" Siren saw Mercury say something, but it was almost a whisper. "What was that, girl?" She snapped as she took a step towards Mercury, gathering energy for a last shot. However, that put her right where Mercury wanted.

Mercury whipped her arm out, clutching Siren's ankle, and smiled, releasing her attack before the enemy could escape. "Freezing Pulse. "

"That's one attack I never want to try resisting."

Mercury stood up and winced. "Her attack wasn't soft, either."

The three new Senshi walked to the others. "Your group isn't as weak as we first thought. We may have a chance to defeat Galaxia if we all work together."

Sailor Galaxia appeared just as Fighter said that, and laughed. "You, defeat me? Even all the Senshi of this galaxy working as one would not be able to do that. And I've already killed most of them myself."

Mercury wished she couldn't communicate with her computer so easily, because she couldn't _believe_ the power level this woman had. It wasn't infinite, but it was pretty close to that.

But there was one other thing in her mind right now. Was Gala hiding from this woman, or was she planning to attack by surprise? She was sure she would know the answer eventually, so it was just a matter of staying alive until that happened.

She realized something, however, something that she had been denying all along to herself. Gala was right. They had _no_ chance to win as far as power went, so there had to be another way. And she could guess their lives depended on whether or not they could find a way to defeat this woman, Sailor Galaxia.

* * *

**A/N:** I'm focusing in both this story and a rewrite of Genesis right now. My other works will be put on hold until at least this one story is over, or if I get bored of writing it.


	7. The ultimate Senshi

**Cyber Moon: Dark World**

**Episode 7: The ultimate Senshi.**

_By Razor Knight_

_Last update: September 19, 2012._

* * *

Although both Ami and Rei realized it was pretty much impossible for them to win, that didn't mean they would just stand there and let Galaxia kill them. It wasn't the first time they were facing a seemingly impossible battle against an overpowered Queen. Senshi or not, this Galaxia woman was evil, and they had to defeat her.

Karin and Chie, on the other hand, knew it was better if they didn't interfere. Ami and Rei were out of their league, Galaxia was even further up the scale. But, as incredible as it seemed, Ami and Rei were giving Galaxia trouble. And since the three alien Senshi were helping them, they had a good chance of defeating her.

And the Senshi Queen saw that, too. The two were Holy Senshi, it was the third time she had met Senshi of that level, and the previous two battles had been rather hard. In fact, it was that second battle which had brought her here. Kakyuu had escaped, leaving her three lackeys to protect their world. That battle had cost her one of her strongest Animates. But these two... Even with the odds against them, they had managed to kill all her soldiers. She would make them pay for that. Once they tired down, she would kill the weaker ones, and then turn these two into her new Animates. And the three Starlights would follow the same fate.

The two Senshi leapt away as Galaxia shot a couple blasts at them. "Five against one doesn't seem fair to me," Mars commented.

Mercury nodded at that. "Wish we had ten Senshi on our side."

The fight was even right now. Much despite herself, Galaxia had to admit these five were a threat for her, as long as they all kept attacking her together. But they were tiring down, while she had a lot of energy left. She had this battle won, as long as she didn't underestimate them.

Nova was watching the battle, and knew Galaxia was too strong for her, at least right now. She couldn't use the trick she had used against Lead Crow without resting for a few days, and everything else she tried would be nothing but a distraction to this Senshi.

"I hate this."

She turned to look at Lilith. "Unfortunately, we can't help them."

"But before, Ami and Rei told us to stay out of our fights. Right now, Galaxia isn't even looking at us. She doesn't even consider us worth keeping an eye on."

"There's senses other than your eyes and ears," Nova noted, "but maybe you're right."

Earth looked at the alien Senshi. "Whoever they are, they seem strong. I cannot sense magic, but..."

"They are strong," Nova said, "but even the five fighting right now have only a sliver of the raw power Galaxia has."

"Damn it, I want to help." Lilith frowned. She was sick of this. Sick of being the weakling, the only time when she had been part of the team was during Neherenia's attacks. She couldn't stand to be so weak. She would not be just a bystander this time around. Looking to the side, she knew Karin was feeling the same.

Nova stood up. "I know how you feel." She looked at the battle and couldn't help but grimace. The three alien Senshi were trying to hit Galaxia, but Mars and Mercury were down. They were alive, but it was clear Galaxia had the upper hand.

She felt two power spikes, right behind her, and smiled. "Well, I guess things are about to get better for us."

"Earth Holy Power!"

"Lilith Holy Power!"

Galaxia leapt back, looking at the three alien Senshi for a second before turning to the two "weak" Senshi. "Oh, can't say I didn't see that happen before. It doesn't matter if a hundred Holy Senshi appear, I will not be beaten!"

"Shut up," Earth snapped. 'Gaia's Vengeance.'

'Karma Barrage.'

An updraft geiser of rocks, dirt and energy hit Galaxia before she could react, and as that ended, a small point of energy appeared right above her, causing an explosion which left a mile-wide crater where Galaxia had been standing.

Galaxia, however, stood up after the onslaught, smiling. Holy Senshi could hurt her, but the damage was nothing she couldn't handle. "I admire your courage, but you should realize nothing you do will be enough."

"I will have to disagree."

Galaxia turned to see a red-haired Senshi. "Oh, about time you stopped hiding like a scared little girl."

Mercury stood up, noticing Mars was struggling to stand. "Who is that..."

"Princess?"

The Princess smiled at Fighter, the black-haired alien Senshi. "I will not run away this time. You can be beaten, Galaxia."

Galaxia started laughing. "I would love to see you try."

"A Senshi can be strong, but there's no power as that of having something to fight for. You have nothing to fight for anymore, Galaxia. You are stronger than any other Senshi I know of, so why fight us? I realized why recently. You're scared. Scared that one of us will grow, become stronger than you, and defeat you."

"Oh, that's priceless. I'll remember your rant, Princess, it's quite a fitting epitaph for a coward."

The three alien Senshi stood behind their Princess, and a thin aura of light surrounded them all. "We will defeat you," Fighter said.

Galaxia took a step back. "What... Your power's rising?"

"We have to defeat you. No matter what the cost," the Princess said. "Star Elemental Immolation!"

Mercury looked at the others and knew they were all thinking the same. They all phased out of the area right before everything went white with fire.

* * *

Earth blinked in shock. The explosion's area was... "Fuck, if not for being able to phase away in this new form..."

Mercury nodded. "We would have been badly injured by that much energy. Killed, even."

Lilith looked at Mercury, and could guess the answer to her question even before answering it. "Did they get her?"

"Galaxia's been weakened by that attack, but she's still alive."

"What about those four..." Nova asked, then sighed as she saw Mercury shaking her head. "Damn it."

Galaxia appeared near them. Her armor had burnt marks all around, her hair was singed, and she had a small wound in her left arm. "That was most unpleasant. I didn't really think they would use that kind of power. It's a pity they died for naught."

Nova glared at the woman. "In this plane you're quite tough, we get it," she said, "but what about..."

"I saw what you did to Crow," Galaxia said, "I'm not a novice when it comes to mental battles, girl, and I could easily block your power. I could turn it back against you."

"You're bluffing," Nova muttered.

"Want to find out?" Galaxia asked, with a mocking smile.

_'She isn't bluffing.'_

Nova looked around, and saw the source of the voice. From the faces of everyone else, even Galaxia, she knew the others had heard the mental voice too. "Gala?"

"Wha... Gala?" Galaxia took a step back. "No! It's not possible, I destroyed you!"

_'Nothing is impossible for us Senshi,'_ The small girl was floating in mid-air, and she calmly moved towards Galaxia. _'They've weakened you enough, but there's only one way to defeat you.'_

"You can't defeat me! Die!"

Mercury saw the small energy beam and paled. Of course, the beam was small, but the energy in it could have destroyed the Earth itself in seconds. Still, Gala stood there, a bright energy shield appearing in front of her and absorbing the attack. "So much power..."

_'While I said you have to stop Galaxia, I cannot let you destroy her body. There is another way to defeat her, but you won't be able to do it with your current power.'_

"Can't let us defeat her?" Mars frowned. What did that mean?

Lilith gasped. "Wait. I get it. It sounds crazy, but... Gala. Galaxia. You're the same person?"

_'In a way. But it's a long story, I will explain everything to you once she's gone.'_

Galaxia laughed. "You may resist my attacks, but you cannot defeat me. You failed your whole world, you failed your friends, and you let me destroy countless worlds. You cannot win!"

_'I see time has blurred your memory. Don't you remember this world?'_

Galaxia frowned. What was she supposed to remember? Just another floating rock, filled with weaklings she would soon exterminate.

Gala smiled as the Ginzuishou appeared near her. _'I can't blame you. I had also forgotten this planet, but I remember now. This is Earth, the home of the First Senshi. I once called it home as well.'_

Galaxia's eyes were fixated in the Ginzuishou. "That can't be... The... Ginzuishou?" She was also remembering. That small crystal, she had seen hundreds of "Senshi crystals" before, but this one was the original one. The strongest one. "No!"

Gala's smile turned into a glare, and the Ginzuishou started changing, becoming brighter. "I was once a Senshi of this world, and fate brought us back here after many eons. It's time for you to be defeated, Chaos."

Mercury felt a surge of power. Where was it coming from? Of course, the Ginzuishou! "I suppose it would take many Holy Senshi to defeat one at your level... So let's even the odds. Mercury Aeon Power!"

"Mars Aeon Power!"

Nova smiled. "I take it you two can't feel magic."

Lilith shook her head. "We don't."

"Okay then, let's just say they're roughly a thousand times stronger than they were minutes ago."

"Wow. Wait, why can't we..."

Gala looked at the two Holy Senshi. "You've only been at your current level for minutes... And you risked your lives skipping several levels at once. I know you could have shot at Galaxia again, if you could. So if I did what I did to them, I could kill you on the spot."

"Uhm, okay..." Lilith sighed. It wasn't fair, but there was no point in complaining. At least she knew Ami and Rei would give this Galaxia, Chaos, or whoever she was, a good beating.

"Mercury Glacial Storm!"

"Mars Fire Star Immolation!"

First a shower of ice and snow fell on Galaxia, encasing her in ice. Before the evil Senshi could get free of her 'prison' Mars charged forwards, her body shining white with flames. The explosion that ensued rocked the area, but was contained to a few meters around Galaxia.

As the light dimmed, the others could see Galaxia was staggering up, a line of blood running down from her lips. "This... It can't be happening, I'm the strongest Senshi in the whole Galaxy!"

"No, you're not, you're just borrowing the body, and such a thing will always come with a price." Gala turned to Mercury. "It's time for me to return to where I belong."

Mercury blinked as Gala's body shone, and all that was left was a small, seed-like item, floating in mid-air. "That is..." She took the seed and smiled. "I understand."

"What's going on?" Lilith asked.

"That seed... It's Gala's soul," Mars explained. "Galaxia's soul."

Mercury walked to Galaxia, who started backing away. "I know now what Gala meant. You were never meant to be defeated."

Galaxia growled at her. "That's right! Nobody can defeat me as long as I am in this body!"

"You were meant to be healed," Mercury continued, her tone so casual, it was impossible to predict her next move before it happened. She moved, fast enough to make three of her friends think she had teleported, and smiled as she looked back at Galaxia. "Begone."

"What... What is that feeling..." Galaxia looked at Mercury, who was showing her both palms, open. The seed! "This isn't possible! I'm Chaos, the strongest creature ever! I defeated even the great Galaxia! I cannot be..."

Lilith shook her head as Galaxia's body was engulfed by light. "Well, about time she shut the hell up."

"Agreed," Mars admitted.

The light dimmed, and everyone could see Galaxia was there, wearing a suit much like Mars and Mercury's new suit, a full body suit with a transluscent skirt. It was golden, and unlike Mars and Mercury, she had no tiara, instead countless small points of light showne for a moment in her forehead before vanishing. The seven pairs of wings on her back made her form even more intimidating. But unlike minutes ago, Galaxia was smiling at them, a warm smile. "Thank you for helping me."

Mercury frowned. Her visor had shut down when she tried to measure Galaxia's power. "You're beyond Aeon level."

Galaxia nodded. "I had a few centuries of training before Chaos took over, and even without that, my name is not just one I chose randomly."

"So you _do _use the power of the whole galaxy?"

"And even then, I was defeated by Chaos, in more than one way."

* * *

The Senshi heard Gala's story. It didn't have a happy ending, most of those she cared for had been lost thanks to Chaos, and she no longer considered Earth to be her home. "Your story validates a few theories I had about Senshi," Mercury admitted after Galaxia was done, "but it also makes me wonder... Why was Chaos so weak, comparatively speaking?"

"My own soul's power had decayed with time, and my body... Chaos grew confident, it had no reason to train, and even Senshi powers, when taken for granted, will slowly decay."

Mars was looking at the Ginzuishou. "This thing... It's not back to its normal shine, but you did cleanse a lot of it."

"You did that yourselves. I let you use the 'evil' energy inside it to fuel your own transformations."

"But that..." Lilith started.

"Good and evil aren't concepts set in stone. That energy once was part of being of pure evil, but it can be used for good. However, it being there pollutes the crystal, and it won't be back to full power until that energy is gone."

"Can you..."

"No. What I said before, in my weakened form, was true. I am not a Senshi of this world anymore, the crystal does not accept me as such. I guess it's fitting punishment for my errors."

Mars sighed. "Then we still have to go a long way before we can do what we must."

"You could revive your friends right now," Galaxia said. "With your current power level, and being Senshi of this system, then the crystal will listen to you. But there's a chance the price to pay for it will be high."

"We could die?"

"No, I don't think so. But if you try to force it to do what you want, it could do something worse."

"Worse than death? Living in this nightmare is already bad enough," Karin commented.

"Then let me tell you what my grandmother, the First Serenity, did to one of us. A Senshi of Jupiter, who fell in love with a normal human. See, this crystal can give normal humans our longevity, but it can never make them be as strong as we are. An enemy killed that man, and the Senshi was too shocked by it, too angry. I was there to see it, and I admit watching the full power of a Jovian Senshi in display sent shivers down my spine. But Serenity did something none of us knew, until that day, was possible. She completely shut down Jupiter's powers."

"Shut down, what do you mean?"

"Jupiter was, for all intents and purposes, a normal human woman, for as long as Serenity wished it so."

Mercury's eyes widened. "And you say the crystal could..."

"It's one of many powers it has."

"Maybe that's the risk they were speaking of," Mars noted.

Mercury smiled bitterly. "Who knows... Anyhow, what are you going to do now? We could use a Senshi like you."

Galaxia shook her head. "I will revive those killed in today's battle. I will return the Animates to their normal selves. If either the Starlights or the Animates want to fight me, I will let them do so."

"But you could defeat them in a blink," Mercury said.

"She'll let them take their anger on her until they calm down," Lilith guessed, looking at Mars, who nodded.

"I will let them fight me, but I won't fight back. In any case, I'm not staying. This place brings memories, but many of them are not welcome. Farewell, Senshi of the Earth, please take care of this world."

"You don't need to tell us that, that's a Senshi's duty," Mercury said.

"Indeed, it is. Too bad I only remembered that after I had lost all I had."

Mars looked at the spot Galaxia had been standing on for a few seconds, then chuckled. "I think we can relate to that, right Ami?"

Mercury shook her head, but smiled. "Yeah."

* * *

She took her time studying the crystal. There was still the shadow of doubt in her mind, maybe they should wait until the crystal was purified completely... But a Senshi of the Moon, given enough time, would be able to purify it. But there were other things worrying her besides the chances of losing her powers.

"Did you want to speak to me?"

Ami looked at Hana. "Yes. There is something I need to ask you, something that involves both of us."

"Terry," Hana said.

"If I revive everyone, then I'm not sure how he will react. I realized I had feelings for him only days before I lost him, but you two... He's known you for a long time."

"Listen, I'm not sure who he will..."

"Me neither, but I don't want to give myself false hopes. So, no matter who he chooses..."

"I've been wondering this since I learnt about what this world had turned into. Ami, let's wait and see. We don't even know how they will take seeing what happened while they were not alive. I know I didn't like it one bit."

Ami sighed. "That's true. And I agree. A part of me still thinks it's pointless."

"It's not. This world needs..."

"Two Aeon level Senshi. I think that would be enough."

"You thought the same about two Holy level Senshi," Hana said.

Ami glared at her for a second, but then laughed humorlessly. "So I did. And we would not have reached that level if not for a naive, blonde girl."

"And her level was quite lower than yours. Power levels mean nothing, Ami. Lead Crow could have killed me on the spot. See how that helped her."

"You're right... I will need some time to think about it. Have to talk it with everyone else..."

"So, you decided you're the one who'll do it?"

"No, I haven't decided even that yet."

* * *

"Are you sure about this?"

Mars nodded. "In a way, we started this. And I will not let you take all the credit." That last bit was a joke, and Mercury knew it.

"Right then." She summoned the Ginzuishou, and focused in it. Mars also focused.

"Hope it works," Lilith said.

Earth smiled. "It will."

Nova smiled as she noticed Earth and Lilith were holding hands as they watched their friends try to revive the others. They had been friends for their whole life, she knew that much, but she never really bothered asking if there was anything else going between them.

A bright column of light shot from the ground, a few meters away from the two Aeon Senshi. After what seemed like an hour, the two fell to their knees, panting heavily.

And several spheres of light floated in front of them. The spheres slowly changed, and it was clear what they were.

"What... Where are we?"

Mercury staggered up and smiled. "Usagi..."

Moon was quite confused. She remembered being hit by Beryl's attack, and then... Nothing. No, she did remember something else. Fear. Pain. Regret. She had died. So how...?

"We revived you, but the world is not how you remember it," Mars said, answering what the others were wondering.

Pluto was staring up to the sky. "The threads of time... They have been rewritten completely."

Mercury could feel tears swelling up, and she didn't fight them. She hadn't felt this happy in quite a long time.

"Hana?"

Terry's voice took her out of her daze. "Terry, she..."

"Long story short, Onara wanted to use me as a weapon against you, but what happened foiled his plans. I... I've missed you."

Terry sighed. "I... I know I died. I thought we all died that day."

Mercury smiled humorlessly "I can see everyone's confused, and it's understandable. Let me tell you all that happened since Beryl's attack."

She was happy to see everyone again, and she would deal with the consequences later. Because she was sure there would be consequences. It's just how the universe worked, as far as she understood.

* * *

**A/N: **This chapter took me a lot of time to write, but trying to choose between one of three outcomes for it was what took the most time. Let's just say the other two didn't end well (in more than one way,) and in the end, I wanted the Dark Senshi to have a ray of light thrown into all that darkness.

If you're wondering, yes, I did a sort of "crossover" here, by having Sailor Moon Aeons' backstory for Sailor Galaxia and ChibiChibi.


	8. A nightmare worth living in

**Cyber Moon: Dark World**

**Episode 8: A nightmare worth living in.**

_By Razor Knight._

_Last update: October 3, 2012._

* * *

Ami studied the faces of her friends. She had expected this much. Shock, disbelief, horror, she could read all that in them. "I realize bringing you back was selfish..."

Minako's skin was quite paler than usual, but she still gave Ami a half-smile. "I won't say we would be better off dead, I don't think anyone can really say that and mean it. However, this just doesn't seem right. How could it all end like this?"

"We were playing fair, the enemy wasn't," Terry said. "Playing fair doesn't make you a hero, it makes you a... Tombstone."

"Don't I know that," Hana said with a bitter smile.

"We are much weaker than you," Haruka noticed. She and Michiru weren't too sure of why they had been revived, but weren't about to complain. "What use can we be to you?"

Luna, Artemis and Shade had been observing the humans silently. However, Luna took a step forwards and looked at Haruka. "This is not about usefulness. This is about caring for someone and wanting them to be by your side."

Usagi nodded at that. "Yeah, I know I would find a way to bring you all back if you died."

"Your other self, apparently, did that," Rei noted. She couldn't understand it, though, she thought Usagi would be the least comfortable with what they had told them, and yet, she was calm. Too calm.

"As for the difference in power," Usagi said, "we can train to become stronger, right?"

Terry smiled at that. "You're the last person I would expect hearing that from."

Usagi shook her head. "I don't like this. I know I'll possibly never see my family again, and several of my friends. But ever since I found out I was a Senshi, I've been doing things I don't like. It doesn't mean I won't learn from my mistakes."

"Mistake, what mis-"

Usagi held a hand out, interrupting Ami. "I was fighting youma, I knew the risks, we all did, but... I tried not to think about it, I didn't work hard to improve, and I wasn't really good at the whole 'leading' thing." She looked at Ami and Rei. "I always thought things would work out in the end, that I could rely on my friends for that, that I just needed to be there to finish the job when the time came."

"Usagi..." Rei was quite shocked. Usagi was seeing a lot more of the whole picture than they ever thought.

"All that I got from that attitude, was being killed easily, all my friends being killed thanks to that... And the whole world..."

"None of us was really taking it as seriously as it was needed," Ami admitted. "No, not even me. But we were not warriors. We were just kids."

"Don't blame yourself for that, Usagi," Rei said, "the only ones who could be blamed for what happened are dust in the wind now."

"I... I guess you're right," Usagi said. "I'm just glad to see you all, guys. When Beryl attacked me, I thought I would never..."

Everyone fell silent as Usagi started crying. "That's more like her," Rei said.

"For a while, we thought we wouldn't see any of you again, too," Ami noted, "but there's always hope, even in the darkest of times."

Usagi smiled and wiped the tears off her eyes. "And from what you told me, things were quite dark around here."

"That's quite an understatement," Rei said.

"Okay, our base is quite large, so you're free to roam around for the time being. We'll see how things work out from now on."

The others nodded at Ami, and most left the room, while others started talking amongst themselves. Ami walked out, already thinking about what she would do from now on.

* * *

"You wanted to see me."

Ami nodded. "Setsuna Meiou, that's your name, right?"

Setsuna nodded. "We were supposed to meet eventually."

"I know that. You can... You can see time, in a way, right?"

"Yes. I didn't see us steering towards this version of our reality, though."

"Nevermind that. There's a bit of info I didn't give the others. The pink-haired Senshi, she spoke of a 'Crystal Tokyo' and it not being around, and when I asked the other Pluto, she..."

"Told you something like 'If I told you, I would have to kill you.'"

"Not as clearly and directly, but yes, the threat was there."

"You should not worry. Crystal Tokyo is still in the future, but it's not the same city anymore."

"I don't think you can tell me about it."

Setsuna gave her a bitter smile. "It's the bad part of my job, revealing parts of a possible future to others can make reality steer into a different one. However, I can explain this to you: For there to be a Crystal Tokyo, a Sailor Moon was needed in this era. When those 'visitors' came, our future was still one of chaos and destruction. The Princess saw that, and I know this because I can see that future too. But we're not heading towards it anymore."

"I suppose that does answer a lot of questions. But why could that girl jump forwards in time? Isn't that a power only you have?"

"Only me, and those I trust completely," Setsuna said, leaving the room without waiting for another question.

"..." Ami looked at the door. "Well, that girl was apparently Usagi's daughter, after all."

* * *

"No attacks in one month," Chie noted.

"Maybe the universe ran out of villains."

Setsuna looked at Hana. "Far from that. But some villains who were supposed to attack us won't have a reason to now." The Hunters... Of course they would not have a reason to come back to their era. Nor would they be able to. They were meant to face a group of Holy Senshi, but now...

"Something's troubling you," Chie said, looking at Hana.

"No, it's... Well, it's Terry."

Chie bit her lip, noticing Setsuna had taken the chance to vanish. "That..."

"Ami made it quite clear, she would accept his decision when it came. I think I'm ready to accept it too. But he's been... Distant."

"Only way to fix that, is to talk it out. You three need to clear that out before it gets nasty."

"I think it already did. But you're right."

* * *

"Are you okay?"

Rei turned and saw Usagi walking to her. She was outside the rebuilt base, she had made it a habit to go out every few hours when there were no enemies to fight. Their base held too many memories she wanted to erase, but she knew they were there to stay. "I should be asking you the same."

"Considering all that's happened... It will take us all a while to accept this reality."

"I can understand that. I still don't accept it."

"Think if I power up enough, I would be able to..."

"Bring everyone back, all those killed by youma?"

"I..." Usagi looked down. "I should have been thinking that, yes, but what I was really thinking, was bringing _my family _back."

Rei smiled. "Being selfish is not bad once in a while, Usako."

"You're being nice to me? Guess this mess was worth something after all."

Rei winced. "Listen, I know I was rather mean to you in the past, but I always..."

"I know. I knew all along, Rei. I may be naive and lazy at times, or most of the time, but I can tell what others think about me. What they think about each other."

"Just like the other Usagi," Rei said with a smile. "As far as me and Ami are concerned, you've been the best leader our team could have."

"And it took you a war and several power-ups to tell me that," Usagi noted, looking at the horizon. "This is what takes the most to get used to."

Rei knew exactly what she meant. "Tokyo. What's left of it."

"Why didn't you move to some other place?"

"At first, because we knew Beryl wasn't looking for us in here. But after Beryl was gone, we... There were memories in this city we wanted to treasure."

"I didn't, it was just a good strategic position," Ami said, walking to them. The other two could tell she was not being serious.

"How long have you been there?" Rei asked.

"Enough to know you are still bad at giving straight answers," Ami joked.

"So you heard what I asked?"

"Given enough training, any Senshi could destroy a planet." She looked at Rei, then at Usagi, whose eyes widened. "Yes, I mean just that, Usagi. But being able to doesn't give you the right to do it."

"Being able to bring others back from the dead..." Usagi started.

"Guilty as charged," Ami said, "which is exactly why I can't tell you growing stronger just for that goal isn't worth it, or that you should just leave the dead rest. It's your call, you've always been the leader, I was just subbing for a while."

"Oh, you were the substitute leader? I never noticed," Rei joked.

Usagi laughed. "I see you two didn't change as much as you think."

Hana walked out of the base. "Oh, there you are, Ami."

"What's wrong?"

"We need to talk."

"About..."

"Yeah."

Usagi walked past them. "Don't bother. He hasn't made up his mind, he fears exactly the same you do."

Hana stopped and looked at Usagi "What... How did you know?"

"She's _damn _good at reading people," Rei mused.

"That she is..." Ami muttered. "But I trust her. Forcing him to decide will not do any of us any good."

Hana frowned at that. "You may be right, but I don't have to like it."

Usagi smiled. "I know how that feels, Hana."

* * *

"Have a minute?"

Usagi looked at Terry and smiled. "Sure, it's not like I have to study for an exam right now."

Terry shook his head at that. "Sarcasm never really suited you, _Rabbit._"

"So..."

"It's about... Hana. And Ami."

"I guessed that. You like them both. You're aware of how powerful they are. You're afraid of what could happen..."

Terry didn't seem surprised that Usagi had figured all that out. However, she was wrong about one thing. "Power? I don't care about power, Usagi. I love Hana, but I see Ami as a friend and... I know I feel something else for her, too. But if my guess is right, then no matter who I choose, I will hurt one of them."

"They're both willing to live with it."

"The problem is... I'm not."

"The more you delay this, the worse it will be in the end."

"You're lucky, huh?"

"What do you mean?

"You have your Prince, I know you two like each other and I'm not as good as you as reading people."

Usagi blushed at that. "I..."

"He was always teasing you, wasn't he? That's what some of us guys do when we like someone."

"I just thought he was being mean to me."

"You should go ask him that. Don't worry about me."

"... Sorry, but worrying about others is one of the few things I'm good at," Usagi noted. "Think about what I said, okay?"

"Yeah." Terry watched Usagi leave, then looked around. Strange, the sun shouldn't be going down yet, it was too early.

* * *

Hotaru looked out to the horizon. "I did this."

"You thought it would destroy Beryl, you had lost your mentor and friends, and..."

Hotaru looked at Rei. "Friends. I never had any friends, only allies."

"I was your friend, in a way. But you never opened yourself to others."

Rei looked back and saw Setsuna was there. "Back so soon? Is everything okay?"

"No, it's not." An image appeared, floating in mid-air. A spaceship? "This is one of three Kh'Sun motherships. Their only goal is to survive, and to do that, they will drain any planet they find, and enslave any sentient life they find in them."

"They sound like a nice race," Rei said. "So, when are they..."

Setsuna gave her a humorless smile as the sky above darkened. "Now."

"What the fuck is that?"

"While I wouldn't use the same words he chose, I agree with him," Hotaru admitted.

Setsuna looked up, knowing most of the Senshi were walking out of the base, as the day turning into a partial night in a matter of seconds wasn't a normal thing. "That ship is a small carrier, it has enough gunships and ground vehicles in it to level a small _planet_."

"Hmph. I can shoot it to dust from here," Rei commented.

"I am quite aware of this," Setsuna said, "I suppose you don't mind killing millions of innocents?"

Usagi gasped at that. "What does that mean?"

"While the creatures in that ship are working for the Kh'Sun, they're slaves, cannon fodder. The Kh'Sun themselves are not going to risk their skins when they have millions of slaves to use agianst us."

Rei winced. No, she couldn't do it. Looking at Ami, she knew it was the same for her. "Damn it..."

"Can't we just fight whatever they send?" Mako asked.

"We're not talking about one monster per day, or even a group of 'Generals,'" Setsuna explained. "I would think the part about 'millions' would make you understand what we're really up against."

"Where is their main ship?" Ami asked.

"Near Jupiter," Setsuna said.

"And all these 'Kh'Sun' are in there, right?"

"Most of them. The ship we're seeing now has a few, comparatively speaking, Kh'Sun in it to keep slaves from revolting."

Ami looked at Rei and sighed. "Guess it's our call again."

"Wait. Are those Kh'Sun evil?"

Setsuna looked at Usagi. "They're survivors, but in order to survive, they've turned countless worlds into arid rocks, enslaved and killed too many creatures to count, and have been around for hundreds of thousands of years."

Usagi's face changed from worry to a glare. "Surviving is no excuse for that," she said, "Ami, Rei... Go get them."

"Of course."

Karin looked up as Mars and Mercury teleported out. "Is the ship... Leaving?"

"It's moving, searching for heavily populated areas," Setsuna said. "Their first priority seems to be getting slaves and eliminating the planet's defenses."

"Unfortunately for them, this planet's got two godlike warriors defending it."

"They just won't learn."

Terry looked at Setsuna. "What does that mean?"

"I suppose there's no harm in telling you this..."

* * *

Mars and Mercury smiled. The ship was huge. There was some praise to be given to a race which could build such a large structure, and keep it running for thousands of years. But they were not there to praise these monsters.

The Kh'Sun noticed them, that became quite clear as several large energy beams shot from the ship, along with a swarm of small spaceships. Even two more ships like the one floating over Tokyo split from the main structure, and shot at them.

So, it was obvious they knew how much power the two of them had. And it was clear they would not be going down without a fight. It was unfortunate for these aliens, however, that all of their 'fight' wasn't enough.

"Time to end this."

"Let's make it fun to watch."

Mars looked at Mercury. "Ami?"

"Well, I'm bored, and don't really have many chances to test my powers."

"Heh, I know what you mean. Okay then..."

To a casual observer, the two women would have just been standing there, doing nothing at all. But their powers needed no movement, no words, just a thought. Without a warning, the ship was set aflame. All of it. Outside, inside, mechanical or biological, it made no difference. But as sudden as the fire had started, the whole ship went blue, frozen, like a giant planetoid made of ice. And then, there were flames again. Which didn't melt the ice.

Under normal conditions, being attacked by normal means, the ship's main reactor would have exploded, taking the whole ship with it, and causing a massive explosion. But magic had a knack for defying the 'laws of the universe' mankind had worked on guessing time and again. The ship simply cracked, slowly and relentlessly, and finally broke into a million shards of ice. Ice which was, as impossible as that could sound, burning with white flames.

"That was quite unsetting to watch, actually," Mercury admitted.

"Just be glad you weren't one of them."

* * *

As they returned, they noticed their friends were staring at them. "What's wrong?"

Setsuna smiled at them. "I let them watch your little power display."

Mars cringed. "Uhm, that..."

"Now we know what you can do. What we could do with time and effort," Terry said. "Hearing about icy columns and flames is one thing, seeing what it can do to a planet-sized spaceship is... Something else."

"What about the other spaceships?"

Setsuna looked up. "They're leaving. The slaves know the Kh'Sun leaders are gone, and the few in these ships can't stop millions."

"So they'll leave, just like that?"

"I'm sure they'll look for a new home, a world that's not already taken," Ami guessed, "unlike their former 'employers.'"

* * *

Usagi was thinking back to what had happened in the last two days. Luna was quite right, they weren't needed, but she could see Ami and Rei were more at ease now. But she was worried about one of her friends in particular, and was looking for her. There, she had found her.

"Naru!"

Naru turned to look at Usagi. "Hi." Her tone was too cold, too distant.

"Naru, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong? Everything's wrong. Damn it, Usagi, don't you see it?"

"We all lost people we cared about. But I promise I'll become stronger, I'll bring them back, I..."

Naru growled. "It's not the same. Bringing them back to this nightmare? What for? Why did those two even bother briging _us _back here?"

Usagi flinched. She could actually see it, a thin aura of darkness around Naru. "What..."

"I don't want this. Why do I get to live and he..."

"Naru, calm down."

Usagi saw Ami and Rei standing besides her. Or rather, Mercury and Mars. "Wha-"

"Usagi, stand back. This could be dangerous, even for us."

"You!"

Usagi did take a few steps back, but not because of Ami's words. She had heard Naru's scream, and then saw the darkness engulf her. "Naru, no..."

"Damn it, she's doing it," Mercury said. "Her power's quite close to ours..."

"Can you stop her without hurting her?" Usagi asked, quickly realizing what was happening.

"I'm not sure, and also... Even if we don't hurt her, releasing all that power while in her first level, it's just too much."

Usagi shook her head. "No, I won't let her die. I won't let anyone else die!"

Mercury saw Usagi was holding the Ginzuishou. "Wha... How did you..."

"I am the Moon Princess. It doesn't matter how strong you are now, Ami, even if you were actively trying to stop me from using it..."

"Don't! You could die if you do that."

Usagi looked at Mars. "If it's to save one of my friends, then so be it."

Naru, or rather Nemesis, growled at Usagi. "Let me end this, Usagi. Let me end this nightmare."

Usagi smiled at her friend, as her suit changed. For a split second, there were several pairs of wings behind her back. "I'm sorry, I can't let you do that to yourself, Naru."

For a few seconds, Nemesis was surrounded by light. Mercury grimaced as Nemesis fell to her knees, screaming in pain. The aura around the Dark Senshi faded slowly as she looked up at Usagi. Or rather, Sailor Moon.

Sailor Moon's smile didn't falter, even as she started falling forwards. Mars caught her before she hit the ground. "She's just unconscious," she said after checking her friend.

Mercury looked at Naru. There wasn't any rage left in her eyes anymore, only confusion and regret. "What did she..."

"She showed me what would happen if I lost it. Not just images. She showed me what you would all feel, struggling against the darkness, being destroyed by it... Along with the whole planet, millions of innocent lives... I... I could have..."

"The more I know about that crystal, the more I understand just how powerful it is," Mercury admitted.

"Naru, don't blame yourself. Rage can be a powerful weapon, but there's times where keeping it at bay can be hard," Mars said.

"I will agree with what you. This world is quite a nightmare," Ami said, "but a nightmare worth living in. You've seen what Usagi can do, even in her basic, weakest form. Do you really think her promises are empty?"

Naru shook her head. "No, I know they're not. But I was too weak to resist my power."

"Sometimes grief and rage can cloud your judgment," Hotaru said. Ami was surprised, she hadn't noticed she was there.

Naru sighed. "You know how it feels?"

"Take a look at the city. Most of that wasn't caused by Beryl. Or even by Galaxia. I did that."

"But you were trying to..."

"Save the world? No. That monster had killed my mentor, someone I cared about. I didn't think about what I was doing, I just attacked."

Usagi opened her eyes and looked around. "Ow, my head..."

"I know how that feels," Ami admitted.

"Sorry about my outburst," Naru said.

"Naru, I won't blame you. I feel bad too, but... I won't let it get the best of me." Usagi saw Hotaru walking out of the room and sighed. "Hey, wait."

"What?"

"I don't really know you and your friends, but..."

"I don't call anyone my friend," Hotaru noted, "but I know what you're about to say. We were ready to give our lives if it helped save the world, but that doesn't mean we will complain about getting a second chance. Or that we will be ungrateful about it."

"Oh. So, you'll stay here?"

"Where else could we go?" Hotaru said, leaving the room without waiting for an answer.

Ami shook her head. "She's... Weird."

"Says the one who deep-froze a planet-sized spaceship."

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you," Rei said with a half-smile.

Usagi shrugged at that. "Yeah, I hear that a lot. Okay, I'll go get some rest, the Ginzuishou really drained me."

Ami turned to look at Rei as Usagi left, noticing Naru was gone too. "Another day, another crisis averted."

"Did you feel how much power Usagi used back then?"

"Yes. What about it?"

Rei shook her head. "Not much... But now I can see how a group of 'weaker' Senshi could have defeated Galaxia or that giant spaceship."

"We're stronger as a group. But it was Usagi keeping us together, whether we knew it or not."

"Think this was the last 'crisis' we'll have to deal with?"

"Come on, Rei. It's a given the Universe will find some queen or ancient warrior to throw at us sooner or later."

"A nightmare worth living in, huh?" Rei mused.

* * *

**A/N:** Leave it to having two Aeon Senshi around to have even the Kh'Sun be gone in a blink.

What's going to happen next? Well, the universe keeps moving, and there may be some surprises left for the Senshi.


	9. Absolute darkness

**Cyber Moon: Dark World.**

**Episode 9: Absolute darkness.**

_By Razor Knight_

Last update: November 1, 2012

* * *

He had been, in a way, avoiding them, but he knew it was only a matter of time before he had to make a choice. But he had also observed them. A friendship had formed between the two, and he knew it could complicate things.

Still, it would be unfair to keep hiding any longer. "I suppose you two know why I called you."

"Yes," Ami said.

"And I suppose you've been expecting me to make a decision."

"We were hoping you would, if given time," Hana admitted.

"Well, that's the issue. I can't. No matter who I choose, I'll hurt someone I care about. And if I don't choose, I'll still be hurting them."

"Terry..."

He looked at Ami. "I asked Rei a few things, and she answered them as well as she could. We... We don't have what those from that alternate reality had, but I still care about you, a lot."

Ami sighed. "I knew it."

He turned to look at the other girl. "Hana, you were the first true friend I had, and losing you hurt me a lot, but... I moved on. I care about you, but not as I used to."

Hana frowned at that. "Wait a minute, what are you saying, then?"

"That I won't choose either of you. Things changed, neither of you is the same, and I've changed too. I can't make a choice like this, but I also don't want to lose you as friends."

Ami looked at Hana. "Can't say I don't agree with that train of thoughts."

"I don't want to hurt either of you, Hana. But I can't keep avoiding you, either."

"I can live with that," Hana said.

Rei walked in right then, and flinched. "Damn. Sorry, if I'm interrupting..."

"No, we're done here," Ami said.

"Good," she looked at Ami and knew things had not worked as she expected, but there was something strange about the way her friend looked at her. "In any case, just letting you know Usagi got to Twilight level."

"First one to get there, who would have thought," Terry joked.

"When she puts her heart into it, she can be quite a good warrior," Ami noted, "at least that's what we've seen from her alternate self. And given enough time and training, she could... No, she _will _be the strongest member of the group."

Terry looked at Rei. "I've been wondering, though... Your magical power is impossibly high, but what about physical power?" As an answer, Rei casually punched through one of the thick metal walls of the room like it was made of paper. "Question answered?"

"Yeah, I'm not getting into a fistfight with you."

* * *

"You don't have to keep an eye on me."

Usagi sighed. "Naru, I'm worried about you. But not because of what you did... I know you won't do that again."

"You're right about that. So, how do you feel now?"

"You mean, my powers? The difference is amazing, but still... I'm not quite good with numbers, but I don't think I come up to one percent of what Rei and Ami have. And yet, I can feel my magic's many times stronger than before."

"Guess I'll try training too. Rei must be a good teacher."

"I don't know, but at least she's not sending me to stand in the hallway if I'm five minutes late."

Naru laughed at that. "I guess that's an improvement for you."

"But she was quite softer than I would expect her to be while training."

"That's because I want you to improve, not to die."

Usagi almost jumped at that. "Rei? How long have you been there?"

Rei shrugged. "Nevermind. I'm as good a teacher as I can hope to be. Maybe I should ask Terry to help. Power levels aside, he's a better fighter than Ami and I are. We had to teach ourselves, after all. I can get you to a higher level, but as far as fighting and tactics go, I'm not that good."

"You're selling yourself short, Rei," Usagi said.

"No, I'm aware of my flaws. Almost got myself killed twice, even after reaching Holy level, because of my temper."

"Think there were others like us...?"

Rei looked at Naru, then at Usagi, and bit her own lip. "I... We kept quite a bit of information when we told you about all that had happened. We told you about those 'alternate reality' Senshi, but we never told you that there were more members in that group than we have right now."

"Anyone we knew?" Usagi asked, though Rei's eyes were telling her she would not like the answer.

"Yes. Shingo was meant to be one of us. And that pink-haired girl..."

"Shingo?" Usagi sank to her knees. "So if things had worked out like in that other world..."

"He was Dragon Moon," Rei explained.

"What about that pink-haired Senshi..." Usagi frowned and stopped as she stood up. "Wait. You said her hairdo was like mine, her powers were like mine and her name was 'ChibiMoon.'" She thought about that for a few more seconds. "As incredible as this may sound, was she... My daughter?"

Rei stood there, staring at Usagi for a few seconds before chuckling. "I told Ami you would figure that out eventually. Yes. And the truth is way stranger than you think. She's your daughter, but from the future, she was back in the past helping our alternates when we showed up in their world."

"Things were rather strange in that reality, then," Naru said.

"It's not like everything makes sense in this one, either," Rei noted. "In any case, I heard you wanted to train."

Naru smiled at that. "It's not like I have anything better to do than being kicked around by someone with a thousand times my power."

Rei looked at her and rose an eyebrow. "A thousand? Underestimating your foes, first thing you must never do in a real battle."

Naru's eyes widened. "Then how stronger are..."

"Ami keeps track of it better than I do, but from what I recall, if our standard form was taken as 'one' then my current form would be around the 'ten millions.'"

"Wow. How do you manage to blink without destroying the planet?" Naru joked.

"Practice," Rei joked back.

* * *

Things were calm for the next few weeks. Almost _too _calm. But said calm allowed Rei and the other high level Senshi to train everyone up to Star level. And right now, Mercury was training Moon, who was eager to reach the next level.

But eagerness did little when facing the Ice Senshi. Even while limiting her power to Cosmic, she was still far better than Moon in combat. Right now, Moon was holding her left arm, as an ice spike had hit and cut a rather deep wound near her elbow.

"We can stop if you want to rest," Mercury said.

"Enemies won't let me rest while fighting," Moon said, wincing at the pain.

"That much is true, but..."

"She's right. Being driven into a corner can sometimes cause a Senshi to power up."

Ami looked at Terry and frowned. Setsuna and him had been helping with training, although Setsuna was often busy guarding _that place _. But she knew he had something else to say. "And?"

He walked to them. "And if the scanner you created is right, then she's quite ready to get an upgrade."

Ami sighed. "Okay, if she insists on getting beaten up like that, then..."

"You, Rei and the others keep forgetting something, something Hakko taught me. While being reckless in training can be bad, we don't need you to be our _friends _when training. We need you to be our mentors."

Ami looked at Usagi. Still flinching, yet still defiant. "Right. I understand what you're trying to say, guys." She summoned a dozen ice spears. While she had to limit her power to Cosmic to avoid overwhelming her opponent, she could still attack in any way she wanted, instead of having a limited set of attacks. "Break time's over!"

Moon leapt to the side, dodging the first three spears, but the fourth grazed her leg, causing her to stagger. She was hit by another spear straight in the chest, and even though her suit absorbed a lot of the damage, she was still sent sailing back.

Mercury leapt up, ready to attack from above, and Moon cringed. Her head was ringing, as she had hit it on the ground when she landed, and she knew she had little energy left. There was no way she could win against Ami. No! She couldn't start thinking that way, she would not be the lazy girl relying on her friends to win her battles for her. Not anymore.

"Moon Cosmic Power! Moon Guardian Power!"

Mercury looked down as Moon transformed. Sure, she was aware Moon was close enough to Cosmic level, but upgrading twice in one go like that could be dangerous.

Moon was standing up as the transformation ended, and smiled at Mercury. "Moon Crystal Retribution!"

Mercury took the attack without flinching. It wasn't like a Guardian Senshi could hope to even hurt an Aeon Senshi, but she was still impressed. "Usagi, that was amazing."

Moon shook her head. "Not really, I'm still too weak to beat you."

Mercury floated down. "Of course, but upgrading twice in a row..."

"I was still seeing this as hopeless. What point is there to a fight if you can't win it, right?"

Terry had been listening, but decided to give his thoughts on that. "What point is there to a fight if it's easy to win?"

Moon shook her head again. "Both views are wrong, I know that now."

Terry smiled at that. "It's not the fight that matters, but what you're fighting for."

"I'm supposed to be the leader," Moon said, "I can't run away."

"Remember, though, that we'll always be there to help."

Moon sighed. "Yeah, I know that. And right now, there may be things I can't defeat on my own."

Just as she said that, the whole base went dark. Mercury looked around. She could still see her friends, using senses other than her sight, but she knew that might not be the case for them. And she could also sense what her scanners were telling her. "This darkness isn't natural."

Moon was moving her head to the sides, as if she could sense something. "What is this?"

"Usagi?"

"Ami, I can see you. Not with my eyes, but... I can also 'see' everyone else in the base. And I can see a few creatures out there, close to our base."

Ami's scanners were also sensing the creatures. But Usagi... She was only in Guardian level, there was no way she could already sense magic that well. Unless...

Terry was as good as blind right now, but had focused on what the others were saying. And he figured out what had happened to Usagi. "Maybe being able to sense things like that is her... Special power?"

Ami nodded, then realized the others couldn't see her. "That must be it, but we don't have time to think about that right now." She looked straight at the base's computer. Even from several rooms of distance and through several walls, she could still handle it as a normal human would through a keyboard. No, even better than that. She used it to relay a message to everyone, through the speakers.

"Guys, if you're unable to see right now, don't panic, and don't move. We'll fix this as soon as we can. Those of you who can still see despite this darkness, gather outside the base."

She turned to those in the room. "Terry, stay here. Usagi... I'll teleport you out there."

* * *

As Ami and Usagi appeared outside, Rei looked at them. "Wait, what is Usagi doing here?"

"I can sense magic, Rei. No, it's more than that... I can 'see' you in my mind. You're making a funny face right now."

Rei smiled at that. "You just won't stop surprising us, will you?" She looked at Mercury. "So, what's the plan?"

Mercury blinked and looked around. Her eyes were adapting to the darkness, she could now see the others with her bare eyes. "We go get whoever's doing this and kick him, her, or it around until we're bored."

"I like that plan," Chie noted.

"Those things I detected," Moon said, "are weak. A bit stronger than me, but I could easily defeat one of them now."

"Good, that means we'll have no trouble beating them."

"If the universe's still the same bastard it's been thus far, then these are just weak underlings."

Mars looked at Mercury and smiled. "Yeah, I thought that too. Let's get them."

* * *

Five creatures, surrounding what looked like some sort of large, black box. The box was made of an unknown material, but it was clearly responsible for the darkness. Its energy spread for miles in all directions, swallowing everything in its absolute darkness.

And the five creatures were apparently ready to defend their artifact against them. Mercury smiled at that. "Begone."

Moon almost took a step back as she saw the creatures and their box turn a solid blue, and then shatter into countless small shards. "Wow."

"And that's why we don't use our full power when training you," Mars noted.

Pluto appeared right then. "All the world's shrouded in darkness right now. Even with Aeon Senshi on our side, dealing with each of these machines will take a long time... And more of them are being sent in as we speak."

"We need to take the fight to them, then," Moon said.

"They're coming from a pocket dimension, much like the Dark Kingdom was," Pluto explained.

"Okay, we'll go and-"

"There may be too many of them for you to deal with," Pluto warned.

"We don't need to enter their dimension," Mars noted.

Pluto looked at the two for a few seconds before smiling. "I understand."

Moon frowned. "Hey, what's the deal? I could help too!"

"Usagi... I wish we could all fight as a team, too, but these enemies are just too strong."

"Fine," Moon shook her head, "go take care of them, then."

"Usagi, please understand..."

Moon looked at Mercury. "I understand what you're saying, but I don't have to like it."

"Fair enough."

* * *

The three Senshi were floating right in front of a 'portal.' It was simply a disk of darkness, a few miles above Tokyo. "Okay, if I understand what you want to do, then I would say this is as close as you need to be."

Mercury looked at Pluto. "Then you really understand."

"Let's do this. Mars Aeon Power!"

"Mercury Aeon Power!"

Pluto stared at the energy wave in shock. It was just as wide as the portal, and shot into it. A focused wave of ice and fire, but it wasn't the kind of attack that surprised her, but that she could see its source, and its effects. They were flooding that pocket dimension with all the mana of their planets, and it was overkill.

The two were done with it in only a minute, and didn't really look as tired as she would expect them to be. "Amazing."

"Didn't know we could do that?"

"I can see all futures, but seeing it that way and having my own senses tell me what's going on are quite different experiences."

"Now we just have to deal with the ones back on-" Mars stopped and looked at Pluto. "They're gone?"

"I phased them all into that place while you were flooding it," Pluto explained. "I guess I can also surprise you."

"Neat trick."

"And tiring," she noted. "Go back to Earth, I'll go rest at the time gates."

Mars smirked at that. "That place needs a better name."

"No, it doesn't," Pluto said before vanishing.

* * *

Usagi stared at the crystal. "There we go."

Ami looked at her, then at the small item in her hand. "You actually did it, cleaning the crystal at your current level..."

"Galaxia was right, when the crystal does accept you, then you can do a lot of things that may otherwise seem impossible."

"Nothing's impossible for us Senshi," Ami said with a smile. "And I've seen what that crystal can do..."

"You've only see a small part of it," Usagi said, her form changing into that of her Senshi self in a second. "Let me show you something I just learnt... But you better transform."

Ami complied. "Okay, what did you-"

"Moon Guardian Power!"

Mercury was knocked back by an energy blast from Moon's crystal. Now she knew what the other girl meant. Being knocked back by anything a Guardian Senshi threw at her? And it wasn't just that, but that the attack had hurt (quite a bit,) and that Moon didn't look tired. "What was that?"

"I used raw mana and chaneled it through the crystal to enhance its power output greatly. I can't use this many times in a row, but..."

"You could have hurt even Galaxia with this." Mercury said. Now she could understand how the Senshi from the other reality could have won against the Senshi Queen. "I see now that I hardly understand how that crystal works."

"It's not like I understand it all, either," Moon said, "but I can simply 'ask' it about what I want to do, and it will 'tell' me if I can do it, or if I will ever be able to do it."

"And you can knock me around in Guardian level. By the time you get to Aeon, then..."

"I've asked. I could probably rebuild the whole Earth with it."

"And now I see why those other Senshi had that motto. Because the crystal itself is an impossibility."

* * *

The large spaceship moved at a slow pace, at least from a galactic perspective. Those within it weren't in a hurry. They were eternal beings, at least in the sense most civilizations seemed to use it, as they would not die due to aging.

"There's a planet in the nearby Sol system which has Senshi. But these Senshi are simply out of the scale."

"Stronger than a Holy Senshi?"

"There may be a stronger level above that, yes."

"Finally, a challenge."

"You don't quite understand. They're a hundred times stronger than a Holy Senshi. They could kill us off rather easily."

"Then let's not underestimate them. How many of them..."

"Two, and several more who range from Holy to Star levels."

"We may not be able to beat those strong Senshi directly, but maybe if we kill their allies, we'll break them."

"Sounds like a good plan, Rex."

"Do I have any other kind of plans?"

"Yes, the ones where we get badly hurt by underestimating our foes."

"Shut it, Hyena. That happened only once."

All in all, Rex smiled. It had been almost too long since they found a world where those evil Senshi creatures were a challenge. But none would survive their Hunt. Not even these Senshi.

* * *

**A/N:** Yep, old friends come to visit even in this reality... And I think that answers just for how long the Hunters were doing their hunting.

But I guess I run out of Cyber Moon enemies quite fast. Black Lady, the New Dark Kingdom and the Alliance won't be around, for obvious reasons. That should answer an anon review I got, I suppose.

And yes, Terry had to choose between Ami or Hana, and he chose "or." Hopefully not many of you saw that coming.


End file.
